| Crop | Dry Bean |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 2016 |
| End Date | 2017 |
| Principal Investigator | Zahradka, Peter, Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine | Taylor, Carla, Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine |
| MPSG Financial Support | $67,907 |
| Total Project Funding | $123,032 |
Research Objectives
- Determine the bioavailability of key polyphenolic compounds by comparing their presence in whole beans (navy, black) versus plasma, and to correlate the key polyphenolic compounds in plasma with cholesterol-lowering effects
- Conduct an animal study using processed beans (milled with small or large particle size, extruded, or micronized) in comparison to whole beans to determine whether processing affects cholesterol lowering by bean consumption, and/or alters the bioavailability of bean polyphenolic compounds
Project Description
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.