The common beans and pulses are diverse food resources of high nutritional value (protein, energy, fiber and vitamins and minerals) with broad social acceptance. These legume crops demonstrate global adaptability, genotypic and phenotypic diversity, and multiple means of preparation and dietary use. Beans and pulses are produced in regions as diverse as Latin America, Africa, Asia, and North America, and on a scale similar to some other crops, such as wheat, corn, rice and soybeans.
Numerous factors influence utilization, including bean type and cultivar selection, cropping environment and systems, storage conditions and handling infrastructure, processing and final product preparation. Nutrient content and bio-availability are dramatically influenced by these conditions. In recent years, beans and pulses have been cited for imparting specific positive health potentiating responses, such as hypocholesteremic response, mitigation of diabetes and colonic cancer, and weight control. Enhanced dry bean utilization focused on improved dietary health is an opportunity within both subsistent and developed populations.
This book provides a contemporary source of information that brings together current knowledge and practices in the value chain of beans/pulses production, processing, and nutrition. It provides in-depth coverage of a wide variety of pertinent topics including: breeding, postharvest technologies, composition, processing technologies, food safety, quality, nutrition, and significance in human health. An experienced team of over 25 contributors from North America, Asia, and Africa has written 15 chapters, divided into three sections:
* Overview, production and postharvest technologies of beans and pulses
* Composition, value-added processing and quality
* Culinology, nutrition, and significance in human health
Contributors come from a field of diverse disciplines, including crop sciences, food science and technology, food biochemistry, food engineering, nutritional sciences, and culinology. Dry Beans and Pulses Production, Processing and Nutrition is an essential resource for scientists, processors and nutritionists, whatever the work setting.

Dry Beans and Pulses Production and Consumption - An Overview
Muhammad Siddiq & Mark A. Uebersax
Dry Bean Breeding and Production Technologies
James D. Kelly & Karen A. Cichy
Market Classes, Physical and Physiological Characteristics of Dry Beans
Mark A. Uebersax & Muhammad Siddiq
Postharvest Storage Quality, Packaging and Distribution of Dry Beans
Mark A. Uebersax & Muhammad Siddiq
Composition of Processed Dry Beans and Pulses
Elham Azarpazhooh & Joyce Boye
Hydration, Blanching and Thermal Processing of Dry Bean
Norman J Matella, Dharmendra Mishra & Kirk D. Dolan
Canned Whole Dry Beans and Bean Products
Brittany L. White & Luke R. Howard
Extrusion Processing of Dry Beans and Pulses
Jose De J. Berrios, José Luis Ramírez Ascheri & Jack N. Losso
Processing of Dry Bean Flours and Fractions
Xin Rui & Joyce Boye
Cowpea Processing and Products
Robert D. Phillips
Utilization of Dry Beans and Pulses in Africa
Jose Jackson, Joyce Kinabo, Peter Mamiro, Delphina Mamiro & Victoria Jideani
Common Pulses: Chickpea, Lentil, Mungbean, Black Gram, Pigeonpea, and Indian Vetch
Muhammad Nasir & Jiwan S. Sidhu
Culinary Perspective of Dry Beans and Pulses
Carl P. Borchgrevink
Nutrition and Human Health Benefits of Dry Beans and Pulses
Elizabeth A. Rondini, Kathleen G. Barrett & Maurice R. Bennink
Chemistry and Implications of Antinutritional Factors in Dry Beans and Pulses
Shridhar K. Sathe

Muhammad Siddiq, Associate Professor and Mark A. Uebersax, Professor Emeritus, both of the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA