Abstract
Various ways of utilizing immature Mucuna beans and mature Mucuna beans as food were studied. The amount of crude protein and L-DOPA in three maturation stages of immature Mucuna beans showed no significant difference for mature Mucuna beans. The first stage of immature beans was the best stage for “edamame”; the optimum cooking conditions were boiling for 10 min, draining the water, adding new water and boiling for another 5 min. The amount of L-DOPA in edamame was not significantly different from that in mature beans. There was no significant difference in the particle size of dry bean paste between the JVB and FVB samples. The particle size of the samples was similar to that of red bean paste. The JVB sample could be utilized as both cooked beans and bean paste. The palatability of Mucuna bean paste was confirmed by a sensory test, the amount of L-DOPA contained in the bean paste being virtually zero.
