ABSTRACT
Consumption of beans is influenced by hard-to-cook (HTC) behavior and the existence of certain phytochemicals such as ferulic acid. In this study, free and ester-linked ferulic acid were quantified in a HTC and a soft (control) bean varieties. A higher content of free ferulic acid was present in the control sample (61 mg/100 g of dry matter) than in HTC beans (42 mg/100 g of dry matter). Ester-linked ferulic acid was higher in HTC than in control beans (88 mg/100 g of dry matter) than in control (29 mg/100 g of dry matter). The cooking process reduced free and ester-linked ferulic acid content by 60% and 49% and for
82% and 54% for HTC and control, respectively. The HTC beans presented a lower luminosity and a higher breaking hardness in comparison to the control beans.
