Determination of Soluble Mono, Di, and Oligosaccharide Content in 23 Dry Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Beans provide a rich source of plant-based proteins and carbohydrates. It is well documented in the literature that the raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs: raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose) is linked with flatulence issues. In this study, the soluble sugar content of 23 dry beans was investigated using a newly developed and validated analytical method with high-performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled to an amperometric pulse detection. All seven sugars (galactose, glucose, fructose, sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose) showed good linearity (r2 ≥ 0.99) between 0.156 and 20 μg/mL. The limit of detection and quantification were determined as 0.01–0.11 μg/mL and 0.04–0.32 μg/mL, respectively. Significant variations in the profiles and concentrations of individual and total sugars were observed in 23 dry beans. Sucrose and stachyose were the two prominent soluble sugars combinedly representing an average of 86% of the total soluble sugars. Yellow split beans, large lima, and black eyed peas contained higher amounts of total soluble sugars (79.8–83.6 mg/g), whereas lower amounts were observed in speckled butter peas and lentils (53.6–56.6 mg/g). Garbanzo beans contained maximum levels of mono and disaccharides (MD), and yellow split beans showed the highest levels of RFOs. Based on the hierarchical cluster analysis of the total soluble sugars (TS), MD, RFOs, and MD/RFOs ratio, 23 beans can be classified into five groups. The average TS content and the MD/RFOs ratios of the five groups were determined as group 1 (TS = 55.1 mg/g and MD/RFOs = 0.30), group 2 (TS = 77.6 mg/g and MD/RFOs = 0.31), group 3 (TS = 78.3 mg/g and MD/RFOs = 0.51), group 4 (TS = 59.1 mg/g and MD/RFOs = 1.06), and group 5 (TS = 68.5 mg/g and MD/RFOs = 0.62). This information is useful for researchers, food industries, and consumers that are looking for plant-based protein source as an alternative to animal proteins with reduced flatulence problems.