In vitro digestibility of starch in cooked-milled common beans

In spite of the importance of legumes in Latin American diets, nutritional features of carbohydrates in these seeds are scarcely known. The purpose of this study was to assess the in vitro digestibility of starch in cooked powdered black beans, a common type of product in Mexico and Central America. The properties of a commercial product were compared to those of an experimental material obtained by seed pressure cooking, milling and drum drying. Available starch content varied between 29 and 35% (d.m.b.), whereas retrograded resistant starch (RS) levels ranged between 2.7 and 3.7%. The experimental product exhibited the highest RS values. Both types of samples were slowly digested by a-amylase, in particular the commercial preparation, suggesting that these products may elicit low glycemic responses.