Dry Beans and Pulses (PDF)

The common beans and pulses are diverse food resources of high
nutritional value (protein, energy, fiber and vitamins and
minerals) with broad social acceptance. These legume crops
demonstrate global adaptability, genotypic and phenotypic
diversity, and multiple means of preparation and dietary use.
Beans and pulses are produced in regions as diverse as Latin
America, Africa, Asia, and North America, and on a scale similar to
some other crops, such as wheat, corn, rice and soybeans.

Numerous factors influence utilization, including bean type and
cultivar selection, cropping environment and systems, storage
conditions and handling infrastructure, processing and final
product preparation. Nutrient content and bio-availability
are dramatically influenced by these conditions. In recent
years, beans and pulses have been cited for imparting specific
positive health potentiating responses, such as hypocholesteremic
response, mitigation of diabetes and colonic cancer, and weight
control. Enhanced dry bean utilization focused on improved dietary
health is an opportunity within both subsistent and developed
populations.

This book provides a contemporary source of information that
brings together current knowledge and practices in the value chain
of beans/pulses production, processing, and nutrition. It
provides in-depth coverage of a wide variety of pertinent topics
including: breeding, postharvest technologies, composition,
processing technologies, food safety, quality, nutrition, and
significance in human health. An experienced team of over 25
contributors from North America, Asia, and Africa has written 15
chapters, divided into three sections:

* Overview, production and postharvest technologies of beans and
pulses

* Composition, value-added processing and quality

* Culinology, nutrition, and significance in human health

Contributors come from a field of diverse disciplines, including
crop sciences, food science and technology, food biochemistry, food
engineering, nutritional sciences, and culinology. Dry Beans and
Pulses Production, Processing and Nutrition is an essential
resource for scientists, processors and nutritionists, whatever the
work setting.