Variation in the Vitamin and Mineral Content of Raw and Cooked Commercial Phaseolus Vulgaris Classes

Raw and cooked samples of nine different commercial classes of the Phaseolus vulgaris L. species were analyzed for their contents of five water‐soluble vitamins and nine minerals. On a 100g dry weight basis, the mean vitamin and mineral values of the raw bean samples amounted to the following: thiamin 0.99 mg, riboflavin 0.20 mg, niacin 1.99 mg, vitamin B 6 0.49 mg, folic acid 0.30 mg, phosphorus 0.46g, sodium 10.3 mg, potassium 1.54g, calcium 0.15g, magnesium 0.20g, zinc 3.2 mg, manganese 1.4 mg, copper 0.91 mg, and iron 5.84 mg. With a few exceptions variabilities of these nutrients between bean classes exceeded those within classes. Nutrient variabilities in cooked samples, again with a few exceptions, were higher than in the corresponding uncooked material. Retention values of water‐soluble vitamins during cooking between bean classes averaged between 70 and 75%. Retention of minerals during cooking ranged from a low of 38.5% for sodium to total retention for calcium, with the majority of the minerals falling into the 80–90% level.