Total Phenolic, Phenolic Acid, Anthocyanin, Flavan-3-ol, and Flavonol Profiles and Antioxidant Properties of Pinto and Black Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as Affected by Thermal Processing

Characterization of fermented black soybean natto inoculated with Bacillus natto during fermentation

BACKGROUND

To make nutrients more accessible and further increase biological activity, cooked black soybeans were inoculated with Bacillus natto and fermented at 37 degrees C for 48 h. The changes in physiochemical properties of fermented black soybean natto were investigated.

RESULTS

The inoculation procedure significantly increased moisture, viscosity, color, polyphenol compounds and anthocyanin, and significantly decreased hardness after 48 h fermentation. Fibrinolytic and caseinolytic protease, beta-glucosidase activities, TCA-soluble nitrogen, and ammonia nitrogen contents in the inoculated samples significantly increased as fermentation time increased. Genistin and daidzin concentrations gradually decreased with increased fermentation time. However, genistein and daidzein increased with fermentation time, which reached 316.8 and 305.2 microg g(-1) during 48 h fermentation, respectively. DPPH radical scavenging activities of the fermented black soybeans increased linearly with fermentation time and concentration. Compared with the soaked black soybeans and cooked black soybeans, the fermented black soybeans with B. natto resulted in higher scavenging activity towards DPPH radicals, which correlated well with the content of total phenols (r = 0.9254, P < 0.05) and aglycone isoflavone (r = 0.9861, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Black soybean natto fermented by B. natto has the potential to become a functional food because of its high antioxidant activity.

Bioavailability of the polyphenols: status and controversies

The current interest in polyphenols has been driven primarily by epidemiological studies. However, to establish conclusive evidence for the effectiveness of dietary polyphenols in disease prevention, it is useful to better define the bioavailability of the polyphenols, so that their biological activity can be evaluated. The bioavailability appears to differ greatly among the various phenolic compounds, and the most abundant ones in our diet are not necessarily those that have the best bioavailability profile. In the present review, we focus on the factors influencing the bioavailability of the polyphenols. Moreover, a critical overview on the difficulties and the controversies of the studies on the bioavailability is discussed.

Phytochemical profiles and health-promoting effects of cool-season food legumes as influenced by thermal processing

The effects of four thermal processing methods (conventional boiling, conventional steaming, pressure boiling, and pressure steaming) on phytochemical profiles, antioxidant capacities, and antiproliferation properties of commonly consumed cool-season food legumes, including green pea, yellow pea, chickpea, and lentil, were investigated. Four groups of individual phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and flavan-3-ols, as well as flavonols and flavones were quantified using HPLC, respectively. As compared to the original raw legumes, all processing methods caused significant (p<0.05) reduction in total phenolic content, procyanidin content, total saponin content, phytic acid content, chemical antioxidant capacities in terms of ferric reducing antioxidant power and peroxyl radical scavenging capacity, and cellular antioxidant activity as well as antiproliferation capacities of cool-season food legumes. Different cooking methods have varied effects on reducing total phenolics, saponins, phytic acids, and individual phenolic compounds. For all cool-season food legumes, steaming appeared to be a better cooking method than boiling in retaining antioxidants and phenolic components, whereas boiling appeared to be effective in reducing saponin and phytic acid contents. In the case of lentil, all thermal processing methods (except conventional steaming) caused significant (p<0.05) decreases in gallic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric, sinapic, subtotal benzoic, subtotal cinnamic acid, and total phenolic acid. All thermal processing methods caused significant (p<0.05) decreases in (+)-catechin and flavan-3-ols in each cool-season food legume.