Effect of cooking and sterilisation on the composition of amino acids in immature seeds of flageolet bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars

The aim of the work was to evaluate the amino acid content and protein quality in products of immature bean seeds with a dry matter content of 40%. The investigation included raw seeds, fresh seeds after cooking to consumption consistency and seeds after canning. Raw seeds of the cultivar Alamo contained more amino acids in 100 g fresh matter than the seeds of the cultivars Flaforte and Mona. Cooking and sterilisation brought about decreases in the content of all the amino acids in the investigated cultivars; 1–50% and 9–60% respectively. Higher losses being noted in sterilised seeds. If the results were expressed in 16 g N, the differences in amino acid content were much smaller. The amino acid content of Mona was lower than that of the remaining cultivars. The cooking of seeds did not bring about changes in relation to the raw material (except tyrosine which showed a decrease 35–45%); however, sterilisation affected the content of most amino acids (from −45 to +17%). Compared with the standard (FAO/WHO/UNU, 2007), the limiting amino acid was cystine with methionine (amino acid score 70–83). Of the seeds prepared for consumption, sterilised bean seeds had a higher EAA index value, while of the cultivars, the seeds of Alamo had the highest value (147–162).