Folate content in faba beans (Vicia faba L.)-effects of cultivar, maturity stage, industrial processing, and bioprocessing

Faba beans are an important source of folate and commonly consumed in Egypt. This study examined the effects of Egyptian industrial food processing (e.g., canning and freezing), germination, cultivar, and maturity stages on folate content, with the aim to develop a candidate functional canned faba bean food with increased folate content. The folate content in four cultivars of green faba beans ranged from 110 to 130 mu g 100 g(-1) fresh weight (535-620 mu g 100 g(-1) dry matter [DM]), which was four-to sixfold higher than in dried seeds. Industrial canning of dried seeds resulted in significant folate losses of similar to 20% (P = 0.004), while industrial freezing had no effect. Germination of faba beans increased the folate content by >40% (P < 0.0001). A novel industrial canning process involving pregermination of dried faba beans resulted in a net folate content of 194 mu g 100 g(-1) DM, which is 52% more than in conventional canned beans. The consumption of green faba beans should be recommended, providing similar to 120 mu g dietary folate equivalents per 100 g/portion.