OPTIMIZING NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY OF LEGUME FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

SUMMARY Cooking acid‐treated raw ground beans resulted in more digestible products compared to beans cooked whole and then ground. The digestibility was determined by in vitro digestion with α‐amylase and with pepsin followed by pancreatin and by examining microscopically the intestinal contents of rats. Increased nutrient availability is suggested by some improvements in total digestibility but not by the protein efficiency ratio (PER), where the increase does not seem to be significant. Process conditions on a laboratory scale for preparation of acid‐blended bean slurries and soybean milks with and without methionine supplementation were studied.