Characterization of Red Bean (Phaseolus radiatus var.
Aurea)
Starch and Its Noodle Quality
CHENG-YI LII and SHUH-MING
ABSTRACT
Red bean (Phaseolus radiatus var. aurea) starch was isolated by a
wet-milling process and steeping in 0.1% sodium hydroxide which
gave the best starch purity. Physical properties of the starch lnclud-
ing granule sizes, gelatinization temperature range, iodine affinity,
X-ray diffractogram, swelling and solubility pattern, Brabender
amylogram, gel strength and degree of syneresis, were examined.
Starch noodles were prepared from red bean starch and compared
with those from mung bean. Noodle quality was exmained by solid
loss during cooking, tensile strength and organoleptic tests. The re-
sults indicated that red bean starch noodles gave fairly good quality,
although not as good as mung bean starch noodles.
INTRODUCTION
RED BEAN (Phaseolus rudiutus var. aurea) is mainly used
as one of the popular ingredients in oriental style desserts
(e.g., cake and pie fillings), bean jams (Watanabe and Han-
do, 1955; Takahashi et al., 1954; Tsuyuki and Itoh, 1976;
Tsuyuki et al., 1976; Shiota et al., 1976; Nagasawa et al.,
1977) and Japanese confectionery (Matsuhashi and Shim-
ada, 1971). Very few studies have been reported on the
starch (Kawamura, 1969; Kawamura and Fukuba, 1957;
Tada, 1959) of red bean, although starch is one of the
major components and may influence the functional prop-
erties of red beans. Hence, investigations of the physico-
chemical properties of red bean starch and the quality of
red bean starch noodles wereinitiated.
MATERIALS&METHODS
Isolation of starch
Red bean (Phaseolus radiatus var. aurea), grown in the Southern
part of Taiwan, was purchased from the local market. The starch
was isolated using the method of Schoch and Maywald, (1968)
with some modifications. Red beans were first steeped overnight
respectively in three different solutions: water, 0.1% sodium hy-
droxide, and 0.2% sodium sulfite. The steeped beans were washed
with distilled water and ground in a Waring Blendor at low speed for
2 mm. The slurry was filtered through polymon bolting cloth
(132~ pore size). The filtrate was settled for enough time to sedi-
ment the prime starch. The prime starch was reslurried in water and
sedimented several times until the upper layer was substantially
free of color. The recovered prime starch was then dried in an air
oven at 40C.
Chemical analysis
Moisture, crude protein, ash, crude fat and crude fiber contents
of both red beans and starch were determined as described pre-
viously (Lii and Chang, 1978). The starch content of the sample
was determined according to the method of Hassid and Neufeld
(1964). The method of Smith and Caruso (1964) was used to mea-
sure the phosphorus content in starch.
Physical properties of the starch
Gelatinization temperature ranges were determined using a polar-
Authors Lii and Chang are with the Institute of Chemistry, Aca-
demia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
78-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 46 (1981)
CHANG
izing microscopeequippedwith a Kofler hot stage(Lii and Chang,
1978). Temperatures were recorded that corresponded to loss of
birefringence by 2,30, and 98% of the starch granulesobserved
in the field, which were taken as initial, midpoint, and completion
values, respectively.
Iodine affinities were determined, after being defatted with
methanol for 24 hr, by potentiometric titration (Schoch, 1964)
using a Digital pH meter with a platinum electrodecalibratedwith a
voltage reference cell.
X-ray diffraction patterns were obtained with an X-ray diffrac-
tometer (Model ADG301E, Tokyo Shibaura Co.) after the starch
was saturated with water vapor overnight in a closed container
(Zobel, 1964).
Swelling power and solubility were determined from 65-95C,
at 10C intervals, by the method of Leach et al. (1959). Four grams
of starch were used for the measurement.
The degree of syneresis of starch gels was determined from the
volume of water separated from the gel after storage at 4C for 24
hr. The amount of water was measuredby centrifugation at 8,000
rpm for 15 mm (Yang et al., 1980).
Gel strength was measuredby an Autograph S-100with a lo-kg
loading cell (Shimadzu Seisakusho Co. Ltd, Kyoto, Japan) follow-
ing the method describedpreviously(Yang et al., 1980).
Brabenderviscositycurveswere obtainedwith a Brabendervisco-
amylograph, using 6, 7, and 8% starch concentration, according to
the procedureof Mazurset al. (1957).
Noodle preparation (Chen, 1978)
95% Starch was mixed with 5% gelatinizedstarch,preparedby
heating a starch slurry at 95C in a water bath, to form a dough
with a glossy, smooth surface. The dough, containing approximately
54% moisture, was placed in a 20-ml syringe and extruded directly
into a hot water bath (90-95C) for lo-20 sec. The noodles were
immediately transferred to cool water, kept there for 3-5 mln, hung
on a bamboo pole, and frozen at -10C for 24 hr. After thawing
in cool water for 2 hr, the noodles were airdried at 40C in an oven.
The dried noodles were placed in a polyethylene bag and stored in a
desiccator. This is the most common process for commercially
manufacturing starch noodles, except that a syringe is used in this
study instead of extruder.
Physical properties of starch noodles
Solid loss during cooking. Noodles (5g), cut into 3-5 cm lengths,
were added to a beaker containing about 200 ml of boiling, distilled
water on a hot plate. The beaker was covered with a watch-glass,
and cooking was continued for 2 hr. Boiling, distilled water was
added every 30 min to compensate for evaporation losses;the mix-
ture was stirred slightly with a glass rod. The cooked noodles were
filtered through a nylon screen; the beaker, noodles, and screen
were washed with distilled water. The combined filtrate and wash-
ings were placed in a washed, dried, tared beaker (Wrl), and dried at
8OC, then llOC, in an oven to constant weight (Wz). The mois-
ture content of the noodles was also determined (w3). The solid
loss during cooking was calculated by the equation:
Solid loss (%) during cooking = w2-w1x100
5-w3
Tensile strength. Noodles were cooked in boiling, distilled water
and removed at defmite intervals (5,10, and 30 min). After cooling
at room temperature, the tensile strength was measured using an
Autograph S-100 with a l-kg loading cell. The crosshead speed was
20 mm/mm
Organoleptic test. Noodles made from mung bean starch, red
bean starch and mixed bean starch (50% red bean and 50% mung
 STARCH & NOODLE QUALITY OF RED BEAN.. .

bean) were cooked with the proper amount of water for 10 min.
Texture wasevaluatedby 10 experiencedjudges.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Proximate composition of red bean
The proximate compositions of red beans are listed in
Table 1. Red beans contained about 46% starch and 25%
crude protein. These values were approximately the same as
those of other legume seeds (Yang et al., 1980; FIRDI,
1973).
Starch isolation
As shown in Table 2, the three different steeping solu-
tions gave similar starch products. Since the amount of
protein is usually considered as an index of the purity of
legume starch, the starch isolated with sodium hydroxide
was used for further studies. The phosphorus content of red
bean starch was 0.10 mg/g which was less than that in
kidney bean starch (Yang et al., 1980).
Physical properties of the starch
Microscopically most red bean starch granules had
irregular shapes with deep fissures (Fig. lA), which may be
due to the way in which the granules were packed within
the protein matrix in the endosperm (Lii and Lineback,
1977). Clearly centric birefringence was observed when the
granules was examined under the polarized light (Fig. 1B).
The sizes of the granules ranged from 25-67~ which were
relatively larger than those of other legume starches (Kawa-
mura, 1969; Yang et al., 1980; Chen, 1978; Lai and Varria-
no-Marston, 1979; Lineback and Ke, 1975).
The gelatinization temperature range of red bean starch
was 63-66.5-70C (Table 3). The range is close to those of
chick pea and horse bean starches (Lineback and Ke, 1975),
but is lower than those of most other legume starches, such
as mung bean (Chen, 1978), kidney bean (Yang et al.,
1980), and black bean (Lai and Varriano-Marston, 1979).
As measured by potentiometric titration, the iodine affinity
value of the starch was 4.83%. The value is much lower
than those of other legume starches which are generally
in the range 6.0-7.5% (Schoch and Maywald, 1968;
Tolmasquim et al., 1971).
The swelling power and solubility patterns of the starch
are shown in Figure 2. The swelling power of red bean starch
is of the restricted type, like mung bean starch (Chen,
1978), but is less restricted than that of black bean, yellow
pea and navy bean (Lai and Varriano-Marston, 1979;
Schoch and Maywald, 1968). The solubility pattern, as
usual, paralleled the swelling power.
The Brabender viscosity patterns of the starch pastes
from 6-8% concentrations gave no pasting peak during
cooking. Neither did they show a breakdown of the hot
paste. Such a pattern is similar to those of most legume
starch pastes and could be classified into type C, according
to Schochs Classification (Schoch and Maywald, 1968).
The iodine affinity value of the red bean starch was not
high (4.83%), but the starch had high hot paste stability.
This phenomenon seems peculiar. The results also indi-
cated that the different steeping solutions used during
starch isolation did not affect the viscosity pattern (Fig. 3).
However, they did influence the pasting viscosities.
The strength and the degree of syneresis of red bean
starch gels at various concentrations are shown in Table 4.
The results indicated that the degree of syneresis of red
bean starch gel is higher than that of mung bean and less
than those of kidney bean and pea starch gels (Yang et al.,
1980). The degree of syneresis increased as the concentra-
tion of the starch gel decreased, which is similar to other
legume starches being studied (Lii, unpublished results).
The gel strength of red bean starch was much weaker than
those of mung bean, pea and kidney bean starches (Yang

Table l-Proximate composition of red bean

Composition % of dry weight basis

Crude protein 24.83

Crude fat 2.75
Crude fiber 4.84
Ash 3.66
Starch 46.43

Table 2-Composition of Red Bean Starch

Steeping solution
Composition Sodium Sodium
(%, Dry wt basis) Water hydroxide sulfite

Crude protein 0.20 0.13 0.15

Crude fiber 0.01 0.01 trace
Crude fat 0.02 0.01 0.04
Ash 0.06 0.05 0.02
Phosphorus (me/g) - 0.10

Table 3-Properties of red bean starcha

Shape Irregular

Size tj~c) 2567

Gelatinization temp range (C) 63-66.5-70
12 affinity (%I 4.83
Fig. l-Red bean starch granules: (A) under normal light; (B) under
a Isolated after steeping In 0.1% sodium hydroxloe polarized light.

Volume 46 (7981)-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-79

 et al., 1980). This may be attributed to its low iodine affin-
ity value and resulting lower amylose content. The lower
amylose content may cause less retrogradation of the starch
during the gel formation, and it resulted in the weaker gel
structure.
The X-ray diffractogram of the native starch granule
of red bean showed an A-pattern (Zobel, 1964).
Noodle qualities
Noodle.qualities were evaluated by the amount of solid
loss during cooking, the tensile strength, and a taste panel.
Since mung bean starch has been the best raw material for
starch noodle preparation (Chen, 1978), mung bean starch
noodles were prepared as a reference. Solid loss was higher
for red bean starch noodles than for mung bean starch
noodles and noodles prepared from mixed (1: 1) red bean
.--- Swelling-Power
m1 *L Solubles
40
and mung bean starches (Table 5). However, the 5.77%
solid loss was still far below the acceptable 10% level set by
the Chinese National Standards for starch noodles (CSB,
1963).
As Table 6 shows, the tensile strengths of the noodles
decreased in the order: mung bean, mixed 1: 1 red bean and
mung bean, and red bean. This may be explained by the
lower content of linear fractions in red bean starch which
may cause less retrogradation of the starch in the noodle.
Consequently, it resulted in a higher amount of solid loss
and less tensile strength of the red bean starch noodles.
Organoleptic evaluation (Table 7) indicated that noodles
made from mung bean, and mixed bean starches had the
similar scores based on texture. Red bean starch noodles
were slightly softer in texture.
From previous studies (Lii et al., 1979), we suggested
that an ideal starch for noodle manufacturing should have
high amylose content or high iodine affinity value (6-7%),
restricted swelling, and a C-type Brabender viscosity curve.
Mung bean starch possessthese three characters. Red bean
starch has restricted swelling and a C-type Brabender
amylogram, but its iodine affinity (4.83%) was not as high
as that of mung bean. Consequently, starch noodles pre-

Table 4-Gel strength and degree of syneresis of red bean starch at

30 various concentrations

Gel strength (gl

M
Degree of
: 20 At room After 24 hr syneresisa
2 Cone temp at 4C (ml H20)
2
:: 7% 120 218 6.7
9% 768 1090 0.4

I
10 10
a The degree of syneresis was determined as the volume of water
separated from 30 ml of the starch gel after storage at 4C for 24 hr.

65 70 75 80 85 90 95 Table 5-Solid loss of various bean starch noodlesa

Temp.(C) Solid loss 96
Sample
Fig. 2-Swelling power and solubility of red bean starch. 5.77
Red bean starch noodle
Mung bean starch noodle 3.20
50% red bean and 50% mung bean
,dIN) starch noodle 3.85
1.0 2
I a The diameter Is aPproxlmatelY 1 mm.
s I
g6% (N~OH)
Table 6-Tensile strength of various bean starch noodlesa

Tensile strength (9)

Cooking Red bean Mung bean 50% red bean and
time starch starch 50% mung bean
(min.) noodle noodle starch noodle

5 3.8 6.6 4.2

10 1.6 13.0 4.0
30 NDb 7.4 3.6

a The diameter Is approximately 1 mm.

5% (HZO) b The noodle is too soft to measure.

Table 7-Organoleptic evaluation of various bean starch noodlesa

Noodle Scoreb

Red bean starch 4.8

Mung bean starch 3.7
50% red bean and 50% mung
bean starches 3.6
Fig. 3-Brabender viscograms of red bean starch at different concen- a Cooking time was 10 min.
trations as isolated from different steeping solutions. b Score l-7: 1 = toughness; 4 = optimum; 7 = softness.

80-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-Volume 46 (1981)

 STARCH & NOODLE OUALITY OF RED BEAN.. .

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Volume 46 (1981)-JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE-81