Qual Plant Plant Food Hum Nutr 36:15 7-165 (I 986) 157

Martinus Ni]hoff/Dr ~ Junk Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands

Water upt ake duri ng cooki ng of dr y beans ( Phas eol us vul gari s L.)
S.S. DESHPANDE* and M. CHERYAN
Department of Food Science, 382-D Agr. Eng. Sci. Bldg., University of Illinois, Usba~a,
IL 61801, USA *l~esent address: Department of Food Science, Smith Hall, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA (to whom the correspondence should be
addressed)
(Received April 15, 1985; accepted October 23, 1985 )
Key words: beans, cooking time, water uptake, phytate
Abstract. Water uptake during cooking of ten dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties
was investigated. Water uptake during early stages of cooking was characteristic of the
variety. Although the optimal cooking times varied widely (52-85 min), all the beans
absorbed similar amounts of water when cooked for theft optimal times. Cooking times
were significantly correlated with W2e rain (r = -- 0.92) and hardness index (r = 0.76) of
beans. Most other physical characteristics excepting the surface area of beans were
generally unrelated to the W2o rain, Wopt, and cooking times. No significant correlation
was observed between phytate content and cooking times of beans. On cooking for their
respective optimal times, all varieties absorbed nearly 1.5 times theft weight of water and
attained a moisture content of about 65% (wet basis).
Introduction
Dry beans pose several problems during processing, handling, and subsequent
storage and utilization. One of the major factors in under utilization of beans
in the developed countries is the prolonged cooking requirement of beans
prior to consumption. It also has placed them at a disadvantage compared to
convenience foods developed for the retail market.
The time required for cooking is a function of several factors such as
moisture content, extended storage, and high temperature during storage, all
of which increase the cooking time [3, 9]. Lipid content is not a determinant
of cooking time of dry beans [23]. Temperature dependence of the cooking
rate of legumes has also been reported [18]. Mattson et at. [12] reported
monovalent and divalent cations and phosphates, neutral salts, environmental
and varietal differences, ripeness, and storage at different humidities as factors
that influenced the composition and cookability of peas. Recently, Kon and
Sanshuck [10] observed good correlation between cooking times and ratio of
percent phytic acid to percent Ca present in several legumes.
Although the role of composition and certain physicochemical properties
of legumes in their cooking quality is fairly well understood, few studies have
been made regarding the role of physical properties and water uptake during
cooking of dry beans. Starch and protein are the major seed components that
absorb moisture during cooking. The size and shape of beans, surface area,
158
seed thickness, rate of starch gelatinization, and the nature and amounts of
non-starch constituents that act as a physical barrier to the swelling of starch
granules may all influence the rate of water uptake during cooking of dry
beans.
Earlier investigations from our laboratory indicated that the initial water
uptake rates during soaking of beans were dependent upon the density and
the bulk density of seeds [5]. After 24-h soaking, however, these relation-
ships were lost. The final water uptake of a given variety was significantly
correlated with its length/breadth (L/B) ratio and weight, eliminating any
influence due to volume. Long, slender beans with high L/B values absorbed
more water as compared to small, round seed types. The present investigation
was carried out on the effect on the water uptake of several varieties of dry
beans of such physical factors as seed dimensions, hardness, seed weight, size
arid shape of beans and surface area. The results are presented here.
Materials and methods
Source of beans
Mature dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) of ten varieties used in these investi-
gations were grown and harvested in the fall of 1980, and were obtained from
Roger Brothers Seed Co., Twin Falls, Idaho.
Physical properties
Data on most physical properties and their relationships with water uptake
during soaking of beans were reported earlier [5]. Surface area of beans was
determined as described by Mohsenin [13].
Cooking of beans
Beahs (about 10g, accurately weighed) were cooked by adding them to
lO0ml boiling distilled water. The cooking temperature was 99 C. Water
levels were maintained constant throughout the cooking period. After the
desired cooking period, the beans were allowed to drain over a wire screen
and were surface-dried with a filter paper.
The optimal cooking time of a variety was determined by cooking as above.
Ten seeds were removed and the two cotyledons separated at intervals. The
time at which the opaque whitish core of at least 90% of beans just disappeared
was considered as the optimal cooking time. Since there was significant seed-
to-seed variation, these times were somewhat approximate.
Water uptake
Apparent and true water uptakes of cooked beans were calculated as
described by Bhattacharya and Sowbhagya [1 ]. Apparent water uptake ( I f ' )
was calculated by dividing the increase in weight on cooking by the weight of
159
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Figure 1. True water uptake (W) with increasing time of cooking of dry beans.
original bean samples. The true water uptake (W), i.e., water uptake corrected
for the loss of solids in the cooking broth, was calculated as follows:
W Mr-Me
l +Mo '
where M~ and Me are the moisture contents (dry weight basis, g/g) of the
final and original beans, respectively. The moisture contents were determined
by drying the beans at 105 C for 24h. All the water uptake data are
presented as gH20 absorbed/100g beans, and are averages of four determi-
nations each.
Statistical analyses
Pearson's correlation coefficients between different physical parameters and
water uptake of beans were calculated according to the procedures of the
Statistical Analyses System [20].
Results and discussion
The pattern of water uptake of beans with cooking time is shown in Figure
1. The water uptake rates were fairly linear during the early stages of cooking,
although definite patterns were observed among the varieties. Small Red and
Great Northern beans absorbed significantly lower amounts of water during
the first 10- 20 rain cooking than the other varieties investigated. In addition
to these two varieties, the ~40min was also significantly lower for Pinto
160
Table 1. Apparent (W') and true (W) water uptake of cooked dry beans
Sample no. Variety a Optimal cooking W'op t Wop t
time (min) (g/100g) (g/100 g)
1 Black Beauty 52 117.8 156.7
2 Light Red Kidney 57 124.6 136.3
3 Dark Red Kidney 60 137.9 171.0
4 Small White 69 143.6 157.6
5 Viva Pink 72 124.3 143.6
6 Sanilac 73 125.1 139.5
7 Pinto 78 144.3 156.0
8 Cranberry 81 125.3 165.0
9 Small Red 83 123.8 141.0
10 Great Northern 85 134.4 156.9
Average 71 130.1 152.4
C.V ,% 16.1 7.1 7.6
aArranged in the order of decreasing cookability (column 3).
beans. On the other hand, Black Beauty and Viva Pink beans absorbed more
than one g water per g beans during the same period.
Most varieties also showed two inflection points on their water uptake
curves (Figure 1). This could very well be related to water absorption by
proteins and starch, respectively. Sefa-Dedeh and Stanley [21] observed that
next to seed microstructure, protein concentration played an important role
at later stages during soaking of eight cowpea varieties. The first minor
inflection could therefore be related to water absorption by proteins and that
starch gelatinization accounts for the second surge of water uptake during
cooking. Halbrook and Kurtzman [7], on the other hand, observed bimodel
swelling for six bean starches. However, not only were their experiments
conducted with pure starches but also at temperatures above boiling point.
They reported a water uptake maximum at about 121 C, with a secondary
maximum water uptake at a higher temperature (130 o 135 C).
That starch accounts for the second surge of water uptake during cooking
may also be indirectly evidenced by the solids lost to cooking broth. Both W'
and W were almost identical during the early stages of cooking (up to first
20 min, data not presented). However, with further cooking, the true water
uptake W (corrected for solids loss) was 3-25% higher than W', with smaller
seed types generally losing more solids to cooking broth. Since starch, when
being cooked, may increase as much as 60 times in volume [11], the cell
walls may burst due to resulting pressure and allow more solids to leach out.
Since the onset of second inflection varied with the variety, variations in the
gelatinization temperatures of bean starches may also affect the secondary
water uptake of beans.
Data on Wopt and Wopt and the optimal cooking times of beans are sum-
marized in Table 1. Although all the varieties investigated belonged to the
same species, their optimal cooking times varied widely, with the slowest
cooking Great Northern beans requiring about 60% more time compared to
e-
Q;
E
I--
e-
o
90 ' I ~ I
10~ 9 8 r = -0. 92
80
7o
.so , I i 1" i
20 40 60
W20 , g H20/ 100 g
80
90
-
E 8o
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E
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~60
o
161
i I I I '
r= 0.76 1/
B
, I , I i
30 40
50
20 50
Ha r dne s s I ndex, I bf / be a n
Figure 2. Dependence of optimal cooking time of dry beans on (A) True water uptake at
20 min, and (B) Hardness of beans. Sample numbers are as given in Table 1.
the quick-cooking Black Beauty beans. Unlike the water uptake rates during
the early stages of cooking which were characteristic of the variety, the water
uptake of different varieties when cooked for their respective optimal times
fell within a narrow range with a relatively small coefficient of variation
(7.1% and 7.6% for Wop t and Wopt, respectively). Even this deviation may have
partly arisen from errors in determining the optimal cooking times. It was
difficult to avoid splitting of beans (about 30-40%) during the later stages of
cooking. The split cotyledons with their entire surface area being exposed to
water cooked more rapidly than the whole beans. They could also have
contributed to greater solids loses during cooking since the resistance due to
seed coats which act as a physical barrier is eliminated. In all the ten varieties
investigated, the core of the whole seeds was the last portion to cook. These
observations were at variance with those reported by Narasimha and
Desikachar [ 17]. They reported that the peripheral layers of the cotyledon of
tur dhal (dehusked, split red gram) were the last portions to cook although
they were most exposed to water during cooking. In the Indian subcontinent,
most pulses are often coated with oil to improve their appearance prior to
splitting. The presence of oil on surface layers could very well retard water
absorption by the peripheral layers of the cotyledons, thereby requiring
longer times to cook.
Since cooking time is somewhat a subjective approximation, methods of
assessing cooking quality of dry beans also need to be developed. The seed
thickness was linearly related to the optimal cooking times of beans, although
the calculated coefficient of linear correlation (r = 0.41) was not significant
(critical value at p = 0.05 and 8 df was 0.55). This may again largely be
attributed to the errors in determining the optimal cooking times as well as
162
Table 2. Relation between hardness index, surface area, and water uptake of cooked dry
beans
Sample no. Variety Hardness index a Surface area Wop t Wopt/SA
(lbf/bean) (SA) (g/g) mg]mm ~
(cm 2/g)
1 Black Beauty 20.16 7.60 1.57 2.06
2 Light Red Kidney 25.63 7.05 1.36 1.93
3 Dark Red Kidney 28.65 6.70 1.71 2.55
4 Small White 20.38 7.08 1.58 2.23
5 Viva Pink 37.02 6.57 1.44 2.19
6 Sanilac 24.27 6.44 1.40 2.17
7 Pinto 41.85 6.71 1.56 2.32
8 Cranberry 36.31 5.65 1.65 2.92
9 Small Red 38.59 5.68 1.41 2.48
10 Great Northern 37.84 5.21 1.57 3.01
Average 2.39
(C.V. = 14.9%)
aData taken from author's earlier work (Deshpande et al., 1984).
the seed-to-seed variation in thickness. However, a significant negative corre-
lation (r =- 0.92) was observed between W20mi n and the optimal cooking
times of beans (Figure 2A). Thus varieties that absorbed water at a faster rate
during the early stages of cooking required shorter times to cook. However,
the true relationship would be a curvilinear one, since upon cooking a variety
for increasing periods, its water uptake does not increase proportionately, but
gradually levels off. W2Omi n could therefore be used as a quick approximation
of cooking time of beans during screening processes.
A linear relationship (r = 0.72) was observed between the hardness index
of beans defined as the average lb force required for the blade of a Warner
Bratzler shear press to shear through the bean seeds (Table 2) and the optimal
cooking times. Increased cooking times for stored beans have been related to
the development of ' hardshell' , a condition defined by Bourne [2], whereby
seeds fail to absorb water within a reasonable soaking time. Burr et al. [3],
however, found that the water imbibition rate was not related to hard-to-
cook phenomena and that hard-to-cook beans imbibed water as quickly as the
normal beans. Molina et al. [14] later confirmed these findings. Morris et al.
[16] have reported at least two types of hardshells in beans, one related to
the seed coat impermeability and the other to cot yl edon impermeability.
Subsequent studies on intact and decorticated beans showed that the seed
coat contribution to cooking time exceeded that of cot yl edon in the fresh
samples, but that the cot yl edon' s contribution to cooking time increased with
storage [8, 15]. The biochemical changes in protein and starch and enzymic
activitiy of the seed during storage may therefore be critical to the develop-
ment of hard-to-cook beans. The hardening of beans may be analogus to the
staling of bread crumb in storage. Starch may undergo in situ retrogradation
during storage. The retrograded starch always takes longer time to cook or
solubilize since greater heat energy is required to break the hydrogen bonds
163
65 t I
90 I I 60 q / 3 1
\
10\ r = - o. 87 r = 0.84
9 CI~
e- 8
' r: 8o - o o , o
6 7 ,v-- d -.
E O
. -- M
J-- 70 -- "I" 4 0 - - 8 / / 7
/
O~ O~
.E 6
O
0 60 -- 30 --
o
A 10 B
I
50 I J 20 .... I t
5 6 7 6 7 8
Surf ace Area, cm2/g Surf ace Area, cm2/g
Figure 3. Relationship between surface area of dry beans with cooking time (A) and
true water uptake at 20 rain (B). Sample numbers are as given in Table 1.
formed during retrogradation. Varriano-Marston and Jackson [24] suggested
several cytoplasmic changes during storage that may affect bean cookability.
Several researchers observed that lignification of the middle lamella in stored
legumes may be one explanation for their decreased cookability [3, 19, 25,
26]. Further biochemical studies in this area are needed to elucidate the
hardening phenomenon of stored legumes.
Most other physical characteristics of beans (such as length, breadth, seed
weight, density) were generally unrelated to the ~] 20mi n, ~I ] opt , and optimal
cooking time of beans. In spite of the varying water uptake rates during the
early stages, the final water uptake of cooked beans was fairly similar in all
the varieties investigated (Table 1). Besides seed hardness, the water uptake of
beans during cooking may also be related to the surface area (a function of
size and shape of seeds). Earlier, it was observed that the long, slender beans
with high L/B values absorbed more water as compared to small, round seed
types [5]. Indeed, the W2omin was linearly related to the surface area of
seeds (Figure 3B). Since W2Omi n in turn was dependent upon the optimal
cooking times of beans, the latter also showed a negative correlation with the
surface area exposed during cooking (Figure 3A).
The values of water uptake on optimal cooking ranged from 1.36-1.71 g/g
bean (Table 2). However, when expressed per unit surface area (Wopt/SA),
the values showed a somewhat greater variation, with an average of about
2.4mg water absorbed per mm 2 surface area of beans. This may primarily be
influenced by the errors in determining the surface area as well as the
optimal cooking times and therefore the Wopt values for each variety.
Most researchers [9, 10, 12, 17] have reported a significant negative
164
correlation between the phytic acid content and cooking time of beans. The
phytic acid content of the varieties used in this study was reported earlier [4].
Although a negative correlation (r = -- 0.40) was observed between phytate
and optimal cooking time of beans, statistically it was not significant. Phytate
analyses of beans are influenced by the extraction procedures as welt as the
method used. That a stronger correlation was not observed in the present
investigation may be due to such differences in the analysis of phytic acid.
Such a discrepancy has probably led Sharma et al. [22] to observe a positive
correlation between phytic acid content and cooking quality of red gram.
It was also shown earlier, that when cooked optimally, all bean varieties
show a nearly constant water uptake of about 1.5 g/g beans (Table 1). This
would mean that any bean variety with a moisture content of about t5%,
wet basis, when optimally cooked absorbs about 1.5 times its weight of
water, and attains a moisture content of about 65% (as-is). Since storage of
beans is well known to cause the ' hard-to-cook phenomenon, and that aged
beans require longer times to cook, probably even such beans, when fully
cooked, might have the same water uptake. Such generalizations would be
useful in the canning of beans to adjust the weight and amount of filling
material (usually salt water).
Conclusions
Water uptake rates during early stages of cooking were characteristic of the
variety investigated. However, when optimally cooked, all the varieties
showed a nearly constant water uptake of about 1.5 g/g beans. The optimal
cooking times of beans showed wide variation and were dependent upon
W20mi n ( r = - - 0.92) and seed hardness (r = 0.72). Water uptake of beans
was also related to their surface area and was generally unrelated to the other
physical characteristics of the seeds. On cooking for their respective optimal
times, all varieties absorbed 1.5 times their weight of water and attained a
moisture content of about 65%, wet basis.
The existing knowledge on the nature of bean cooking still is incomplete.
The exact physiochemical role of the constituents of bean seeds, particularly
starch, the nature and amounts of the non-starchy seed coat material as
influenced by variety, composition, and environment, is still in the speculat-
ive stage. Further studies are required on the biochemical and physico-
chemical changes which occur during the storage of beans prior to a complete
understanding of the cooking of beans.
Acknowledgment
The project was supported in part by Illinois Agriculture Experiment Station,
Urbana, IL. The authors sincerely thank Mr S. Gunasekaran, Dept. of Agr.
Eng., for assistance in surface area measurements. One of us (SSD) sincerely
acknowledges the financial support provided by the IFT/General Foods
Fellowship.
165
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