Effect of Processing on Health Benefits Associated with Bean Consumption

The medicinal benefits obtained through the consumption of whole pulses and soybeans are being investigated with the intent of obtaining health claims around cholesterol lowering and glycemic control. However, the North American population typcially does not consume large amounts of whole pulses and soybean (consumption by Winnipegers is less than 1/3 cup per month), preferring instead easy to use recipes or prepared foods that utilize processed ingredients.  It remains unclear whether processing affects the health benefits of the whole food, since 1) it is usually not known which fraction(s) of the seed contain the compound(s) responsible for the health benefit(s), and 2) processing itself may be detrimental to the material responsible for the health benefit. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of processing on both the cholesterol lowering effects of pulses and the bioavailability of key bioactives found in pulses.