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Review
. 2023 Jul 15;28(14):5431.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28145431.

Faba Bean Processing: Thermal and Non-Thermal Processing on Chemical, Antinutritional Factors, and Pharmacological Properties

Abraham Badjona  1 , Robert Bradshaw  2 , Caroline Millman  1 , Martin Howarth  1 , Bipro Dubey  1
Affiliations
Review

Faba Bean Processing: Thermal and Non-Thermal Processing on Chemical, Antinutritional Factors, and Pharmacological Properties

Abraham Badjona et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The food industry, academia, food technologists, and consumers have become more interested in using faba bean seeds in the formulation of new products because of their nutritional content, accessibility, low costs, environmental advantages, and beneficial impacts on health. In this review, a systematic and up-to-date report on faba bean seeds' antinutrients and bioactive and processing techniques is comprehensively presented. The chemical composition, including the oil composition and carbohydrate constituents, is discussed. Factors influencing the reduction of antinutrients and improvement of bioactive compounds, including processing techniques, are discussed. Thermal treatments (cooking, autoclaving, extrusion, microwaving, high-pressure processing, irradiation) and non-thermal treatments (soaking, germination, extraction, fermentation, and enzymatic treatment) are identified as methods to reduce the levels of antinutrients in faba bean seeds. Appropriate processing methods can reduce the antinutritional factors and enrich the bioactive components, which is useful for the seeds' efficient utilization in developing functional foods. As a result, this evaluation focuses on the technologies that are employed to reduce the amounts of toxins in faba bean seeds. Additionally, a comparison of these methods is performed in terms of their advantages, disadvantages, viability, pharmacological activity, and potential for improvement using emerging technologies. Future research is expected in this area to fill the knowledge gap in exploiting the nutritional and health benefits of faba bean seeds and increase the utilization of faba bean seeds for different applications.

Keywords: antinutritional factors; bioactive compounds; biological activity; faba bean seed; polyphenols; vicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Faba bean seeds with different seed color and size. (A) small-seeds; (B) medium-seeds; (C) large-seeds; (D) green seeds; (E) brown seeds; (F) purple seeds. Reprinted with permission from seed colors and sizes [30].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of publications reported in the Scopus system containing the term “faba bean” in the title, abstract, and keywords within the years 1990 to 2023 (as of 20 June 2023).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Different health benefits associated with faba bean bioactive peptides.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Skeletal structure of vicine and convicine in faba bean (adapted from [20]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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