Effect of cooking in common bean cultivars on antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds

The phenolic compounds found in beans have several biological effects that may help in the prevention of some human diseases. This the research aimed to determine the antioxidant activity in different bean cultivars and to identify and quantify flavonoids and phenolic acids in raw and cooked beans. The antioxidant activity was performed by the ABTS and DPPH method and the flavonoids and phenolic acids were identified by HPLC. The results were analyzed using an ANOVA and Tukey’s test. For antioxidant methods, significant differences were observed between raw and cooked beans, and the cultivar Porto Real presented the highest contents for both methods and treatments. There were significant differences between bean cultivars and treatments regarding phenolic acids and flavonoids. These results suggest that cooking favored the extraction of polyphenols, important for human health. Common beans are an excellent source of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity.