Pck. Cheung et Cf. Chau, CHANGES IN THE DIETARY FIBER (RESISTANT STARCH AND NONSTARCH POLYSACCHARIDES) CONTENT OF COOKED FLOURS PREPARED FROM 3 CHINESE INDIGENOUS LEGUME SEEDS, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 46(1), 1998, pp. 262-265
The effects of cooking on the dietary fiber (DF) content, which includ
ed resistant starch (RS) and nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP), of flour
s from Phaseolus angularis, Phaseolus calcaratus, and Dolichos lablab
seeds, indigenous to China, were evaluated. The cooked legume flours w
ere prepared by milling boiled and freeze-dried legume whole seeds. To
tal DF contents of all cooked flours were higher than those of the raw
ones. The results showed an increase of NSP and RS to various extents
with increasing cooking time of the flours. In the NSP of the legume
flours, both the soluble and insoluble fractions increased during cook
ing, and a redistribution of the soluble and insoluble NSP components
was observed. Generally, cooking increased the solubilization of the N
SP in the legume seed flours, which might be important for their use a
s soup ingredients for therapeutic purposes. The increase of RS in the
legume flours could be mainly due to the presence of cell-enclosed st
arch and retrograded starch formed during cooking. Such increase in th
e RS content of the cooked legume flours might have beneficial physiol
ogical effects for humans.