Preliminary study of the factors that determine nutrient composition of bean-cooking broth.

Bean cooking broth or liquor is a food preparation that results from cooking beans under a number of circumstances. This preparation is the first bean-derived food provided by mothers to their children as young as two months of age. Because of this, bean cooking plays an important nutritional role that must be evaluated. The present study attempted to evaluate, through a number of experiments, the significance of cultivars, method of cooking--either under atmospheric or vapor pressure--cooking time, salt addition, soaking and grain size on bean broth content. This was established mainly by solid content, and also by protein, ash and tannin content in different experiments. The results indicated that cultivars, but mainly cooking and soaking time, cooking method, and seed size were all important factors in determining brean-broth composition, mainly of total solids. Protein and ash contents were less affected. Prolonged cooking of the bean-broth resulted in a decrease in polyphenolic content. The relative nutritional importance of the above factors should be studied further.