Relationships Between the Hard‐to‐Cook Phenomenon in Red Kidney Beans and Water Absorption, Puncture Force, Pectin, Phytic Acid, and Minerals

Abstract

The effect of high temperature, high humidity storage on cooking quality and physicochemical properties of dry, mature red kidney beans was evaluated over a storage period of 9 months. The rate of softening of beans during cooking, and the rate of dissolution of pectin during cooking followed apparent first‐order kinetics and their apparent rate constants correlated highly with each other. The apparent softening rate constants decreased with increasing time of storage. The loss of cookability in mature bean seeds stored under high temperature‐high humidity conditions probably results from a decrease in phytic acid phosphorus and alterations in the ratio of monovalent to divalent cations in the tissue.