NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF FOUR VARIETIES OF DRY BEANS (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.)

Proximate composition, globulin, albumin, nonprotein nitrogen and amino acid contents were determined in four varieties of dry bean. Protein and nonprotein nitrogen contents were similar in all four varieties. The lysine was higher in the varieties Rico 23 and Rosinha ‐G2. The sulfur‐containing amino acids were higher in Rico 23. PER, apparent biological value, nitrogen retention and methionine availability were highest in Rico 23 and lowest in the variety Carioca. For these two varieties PER values ranged from 1.32–0.75, apparent biological value from 58.9–39.4%, nitrogen retention from 36.1 ‐ 21.0 mg N retained/rat/day and methionine availability from 40.6–29.3%, respectively. Apparent digestibility was lowest for Rico 23 and highest for Piratä‐1. Piratä‐1 ranked second in all biological parameters, except for methionine availability. Cooking the raw bean did not raise digestibility beyond 66%. Availability of iron was in the range 4–5% for all varieties.