Azuki bean juice lowers serum triglyceride concentrations in healthy young women

Potential anti-obesity effect of saponin metabolites from adzuki beans: A computational approach

In contrast to its widespread traditional and popular culinary use to reduce weight, Vigna angularis (adzuki beans) was not subjected to sufficient scientific scrutiny. Particularly, its saponins whose role was never investigated before to unveil the beans' antidiabetic and anti-obesity effects. Four vital pancreatic and intestinal carbohydrate enzymes were selected to assess the potency of the triterpenoidal saponins of V. angularis to bind and activate these proteins through high-precision molecular modeling and dynamics mechanisms with accurate molecular mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area (MMGBSA) energy calculations; thus, recognizing their anti-obesity potential. Our results showed that adzukisaponin VI and adzukisaponin IV were the best compounds in the α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymatic grooves, respectively. Adzukisaponin VI and angulasaponin C were the best fitting in the N-termini of sucrase-isomaltose (SI) enzyme, and angulasaponin C was the best scoring compound in maltase-glucoamylase C-termini. All of them outperformed the standard drug acarbose. These compounds in their protein complexes were selected to undergo molecular simulations of the drug-bound protein compared to the apo-protein through 100 ns, which confirmed the consistency of binding to the key amino acid residues in the four enzyme pockets with the least propensity of unfolding. Detailed analysis is given of the different polar and hydrophobic binding interactions of docked compounds. While maltase-adzukisaponin VI complex scored the lowest MMGBSA free energy of -67.77 Kcal/mol, α-amylase complex with angulasaponin B revealed the free binding energy of -74.18 Kcal/mol with a dominance of van der Waals energy (ΔEVDW) and the least change from the start to the end of the simulation time. This study will direct researchers to the significance of isolating the pure adzuki saponin components to conduct future in vitro and in vivo experimental works and even clinical trials.

Exploring the nutritional and health benefits of pulses from the Indian Himalayan region: A glimpse into the region's rich agricultural heritage

Pulses have been consumed worldwide for over 10 centuries and are currently among the most widely used foods. They are not economically important, but also nutritionally beneficial as they constitute a good source of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, folate and magnesium. Pulses, but particularly species such as Macrotyloma uniflorum, Phaseolus vulgaris L., Glycine max L. and Vigna umbellate, are essential ingredients of the local diet in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). Consuming pulses can have a favourable effect on cardiovascular health as they improve serum lipid profiles, reduce blood pressure, decrease platelet activity, regulate blood glucose and insulin levels, and reduce inflammation. Although pulses also contain anti-nutritional compounds such as phytates, lectins or enzyme inhibitors, their deleterious effects can be lessened by using effective processing and cooking methods. Despite their great potential, however, the use of some pulses is confined to IHR regions. This comprehensive review discusses the state of the art in available knowledge about various types of pulses grown in IHR in terms of chemical and nutritional properties, health effects, accessibility, and agricultural productivity.

Beans comsumption can contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the major cause of global mortality, accounting for 31% of deaths worldwide. Healthy eating habits based on the consumption of bioactive molecules present in plant-based diets can contribute to the prevention of CVD. In this context, the consumption of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is relevant. There are several species of beans, all of which provide proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds. More recently, the complexity of phytochemical components has expanded, including the role of antinutritional factors in nutrient bioavailability and immune responses. Experimental and clinical studies have shown that the consumption of beans results in less food consumption, control of body weight, and improvement of metabolic biochemical parameters. Thus, the consumption of beans is associated with a decrease in CVD risk factors. To date, there have been no interventional studies assessing CVD outcomes, such as hospitalization, infarction, and mortality, in the context of bean consumption. Furthermore, studies on the effect of bean consumption on metabolomics and intestinal microbiota are lacking. The purpose of this review is to explore the nutritional properties of beans and discuss the main effects of the consumption of beans on cardiovascular health. In conclusion, eating habits based on the consumption of bioactive molecules present in beans can contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, there is a large gap in the literature regarding the consumption of beans associated with clinical outcomes, such as hospitalization and mortality.

Pulse-based cropping systems for soil health restoration, resources conservation, and nutritional and environmental security in rainfed agroecosystems

Pulses are an important source of energy and protein, essential amino acids, dietary fibers, minerals, and vitamins, and play a significant role in addressing global nutritional security. The global pulse area, production, and average productivity increased from 1961 to 2020 (60 years). Pulses are usually grown under rainfed, highly unstable, and complex production environments, with substantial variability in soil and environmental factors, high year-to-year output variability, and variation in soil moisture. Since the last six decades, there is not much satisfactory improvement in the yield of pulses because of their cultivation in harsh environments, coupled with their continuous ignorance of the farmers and governments in policy planning. As a result, the global food supplies through pulses remained negligible and amounted to merely ~1.0% of the total food supply and 1.2% of the vegan food system. In this situation, protein-rich food is still a question raised at the global level to make a malnutrition-free world. Pulses are a vital component of agricultural biological diversity, essential for tackling climate change, and serve as an energy diet for vegetarians. Pulses can mitigate climate change by reducing the dependence on synthetic fertilizers that artificially introduce nitrogen (N) into the soil. The high demand and manufacture of chemical fertilizers emit greenhouse gases (GHGs), and their overuse can harm the environment. In addition, the increasing demand for the vegetal protein under most global agroecosystems has to be met with under a stressed rainfed situation. The rainfed agroecosystem is a shelter for poor people from a significant part of the globe, such as Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Nearly, 83% [over 1,260 million hectares (ha)] of cultivated land comes under rainfed agriculture, contributing significantly to global food security by supplying over 60% of the food. In rainfed areas, the limitation of natural resources with the shrinking land, continuous nutrient mining, soil fertility depletion, declining productivity factor, constantly depleting water availability, decreasing soil carbon (C) stock, augmented weed menace, ecological instability, and reduced system productivity are creating a more challenging situation. Pulses, being crops of marginal and semi-marginal soils of arid and semi-arid climates, require less input for cultivation, such as water, nutrients, tillage, labor, and energy. Furthermore, accommodation of the area for the cultivation of pulses reduces the groundwater exploitation, C and N footprints, agrochemical application in the cropping systems, and ill effects of climate change due to their inherent capacity to withstand harsh soil to exhibit phytoremediation properties and to stand well under stressed environmental condition. This article focuses on the role of pulses in ecological services, human wellbeing, soil, environmental health, and economic security for advanced sustainability. Therefore, this study will enhance the understanding of productivity improvement in a system-based approach in a rainfed agroecosystem through the involvement of pulses. Furthermore, the present study highlighted significant research findings and policy support in the direction of exploring the real yield potential of pulses. It will provide a road map to producers, researchers, policymakers, and government planners working on pulses to promote them in rainfed agroecosystems to achieve the United Nations (UN's) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Do Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Promote Good Health in Humans? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical and Randomized Controlled Trials

The common bean is a nutrient-dense food empirically known to have beneficial effects on human health. Many studies have looked at the effects of "pulses" on different health issues, providing general overviews of the importance of each pulse in health studies. This study systematically reviews and provides meta-analyses of the effect of bean extract as a supplement or whole bean on four health issues (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cancers) from a dissection of clinical and randomized controlled trials using human subjects. A digital search in PubMed and Google ScholarTM resulted in 340 articles, with only 23 peer-reviewed articles matching our inclusion criteria. Findings indicated that common beans reduced LDL cholesterol by 19 percent, risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 11 percent, and coronary heart disease (CHD) by 22 percent. Besides this, we noted variances in the literature on cancer findings, with some authors stating it reduced the proliferation of some kinds of tumor cells and reduced the growth of polyps, while others did not specifically examine cancers but the predisposing factors alone. However, diabetes studies indicated that the postprandial glucose level at the peak of 60 min for common bean consumers was low (mean difference = -2.01; 95% CI [-4.6, -0.63]), but the difference between the treated and control was not significant, and there was a high level of heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 98%). Only obesity studies indicated a significantly high level of weight gain among control groups (mean difference = 1.62; 95% CI [0.37, 2.86]). There is a need for additional clinical trials using a standardized measure to indicate the real effect of the common bean on health.

Safety and efficacy of adzuki bean extract in subjects with moderate to high LDL-C: a randomized trial

The safety and efficacy of polyphenol-containing adzuki bean extract on lipid metabolism were evaluated in human subjects in an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel intervention study. No adverse effects were observed in the participants receiving adzuki bean extract. The adzuki bean group showed a significant increase in the ΔHDL-C concentration compared with the placebo group after 4 weeks of intervention (3.76 ± 7.79 mg/dL vs. -0.08 ± 6.03 mg/dL), respectively, and both groups showed reduced ∆HDL-C concentrations, with the adzuki bean extract group showing a return to the baseline levels (0.36 ± 5.36 mg/dL) and the placebo group showing a decrease to below the baseline levels (-3.17 ± 7.79 mg/dL) at week 8. This short-term study represents the first step in establishing the practicality, safety, and plausibility of HDL-C maintaining effects of adzuki bean extract in human subjects.

Polyphenol-Rich Dry Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and Their Health Benefits

Polyphenols are plant metabolites with potent anti-oxidant properties, which help to reduce the effects of oxidative stress-induced dreaded diseases. The evidence demonstrated that dietary polyphenols are of emerging increasing scientific interest due to their role in the prevention of degenerative diseases in humans. Possible health beneficial effects of polyphenols are based on the human consumption and their bioavailability. Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are a greater source of polyphenolic compounds with numerous health promoting properties. Polyphenol-rich dry common beans have potential effects on human health, and possess anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-mutagenic and anti-carcinogenic properties. Based on the studies, the current comprehensive review aims to provide up-to-date information on the nutritional compositions and health-promoting effect of polyphenol-rich common beans, which help to explore their therapeutic values for future clinical studies. Investigation of common beans and their impacts on human health were obtained from various library databases and electronic searches (Science Direct PubMed, and Google Scholar).

Caracterização química, atividade antioxidante e formulação de doces com feijão azuki (Vigna angularis)

Resumo No Japão, o feijão azuki é comumente usado na elaboração de doce, observando-se que a sua casca vermelha é rica em antioxidantes. No Brasil, o feijão azuki ainda é pouco consumido e o doce de feijão é pouco conhecido pelos brasileiros. O objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar quimicamente o feijão azuki vermelho (Vigna angularis), bem como avaliar a influência do cozimento sobre o seu teor de compostos fenólicos e a sua atividade antioxidante. Buscou-se também avaliar a composição química dos doces formulados com feijão azuki. Os resultados obtidos para a composição química mostraram que o feijão azuki apresentou elevados teores de carboidratos (65,60 g/100 g) e proteínas (17,87 g/100 g). O feijão azuki cozido, comparado ao feijão azuki cru, perdeu grande parte dos compostos fenólicos, mas ainda manteve quase metade da atividade antioxidante. Os doces de feijão azuki em massa e em pasta apresentaram, respectivamente, alto teor de carboidratos de 67,09 e 46,20 g/100 g, teores de proteínas de 4,02 e 6,48 g/100 g, e baixo teor de lipídios de 0,33 e 2,73 g/100 g. O feijão azuki vermelho mostrou ter um bom potencial tecnológico para sua utilização no processamento dos doces de feijão.

Azuki bean (Vigna angularis) extract reduces oxidative stress and stimulates autophagy in the kidneys of streptozotocin-induced early diabetic rats

Diabetic kidney disease is associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and autophagy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of azuki bean (Vigna angularis) extract (ABE) on oxidative stress and autophagy in the kidneys of diabetic rats. Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats received 0, 10, or 40 mg/kg of ABE orally for 4 weeks, whereas vehicle-injected control rats received distilled water. Level of plasma glutathione and expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), p47phox (NADPH oxidase subunit), and markers associated with autophagy were examined. The glutathione level in the 40 mg/kg ABE-treated diabetic group (ABE-40 group) was higher than that of the untreated diabetic group (ABE-0 group). The HO-1 and p47phox protein expression levels of the ABE-40 group were lower (47% and 33%, respectively) than those of the ABE-0 group. The level of light chain 3B II (LC3B-II) was higher in the ABE-40 group than in the ABE-0 group. Protein levels of p62/sequestosome 1 (p62) in the ABE-40 group were lower than those in the ABE-0 group. Our results suggest that ABE may attenuate STZ-induced diabetic kidney injury by suppressing oxidative stress and (or) by upregulating autophagy.

Antidiabetic potential of commonly consumed legumes: a review

Over the last few decades, lifestyle changes have resulted in a drastic increase in the incidence of diabetes all over the world, especially in the developing countries. Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin form the mainstay in controlling diabetes, but they have prominent side effects and fail to significantly alter the course of diabetic complications. Appropriate diet and exercise programs that form a part of lifestyle modifications have proven to be greatly effective in the management of this disease. Dietary therapy is showing a bright future in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Legumes, owing to their high nutritive value, are increasingly being used in dietetic formulations in the treatment and prevention of diabetes on account of their antidiabetic potential. Given this background, this paper reviews the glucose- and lipid-lowering action possessed by various commonly consumed legumes through several animal and human studies. It is concluded that the various legumes not only have varying degrees of antidiabetic potential but are also beneficial in decreasing the risk factors for cardiovascular and renal disease.

Nutritional and health perspectives of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): an overview

Beans, the variants of Phaseolus vulagris, are nutritionally and economically important food crop in each part of the world. Besides providing nutrients such as multifaceted carbohydrates, elevated proteins, dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins, these also contain rich variety of polyphenolic compounds with prospective health benefits. This review mainly focuses the important nutritional aspects of beans as well as their contribution in decreasing the risks of chronically degenerative diseases.

The active role of leguminous plant components in type 2 diabetes

Diabetes appears to be one of the most frequent noncommunicable diseases in the world. A permanent growth in the incidence of diabetes can be observed and according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) the year 2030 will mark the increase in the number of diabetics to 439 mln worldwide. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of all diabetes incidence. Nutrition model modification not only features the basic element in type 2 diabetes treatment but also constitutes the fundamental factor influencing a morbidity rate decrease. Leguminous plants are a key factor in the diabetic diet; plants such as pulses or soybeans are nutritious products valued highly in nutrition. These legumes are high in the content of wholesome protein and contain large amounts of soluble alimentary fiber fractions, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, and bioactive substances with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activity. They are distinguished by the high amount of bioactive compounds that may interfere with the metabolism of glucose. The most significant bioactive compounds displaying antidiabetic activity in leguminous plants are as follows: genistein and daidzein, alpha-amylase inhibitors, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. In vitro research using leguminous plant extracts has confirmed their antidiabetic properties. Leguminous plants should be employed in the promotion of healthy lifestyles in terms of functional food.