Controlling mung bean soaking time as a simple way to obtain alternativesources of healthy food for the diabetics

Mung bean is one of the commodities with potency sources of starch and protein that is available and inexpensive. However, healthy food ingredients which are needed by diabetics must be high in slow-digest starch and protein. This research examined the effect of soaking time on the in vitro digestibility of starch and protein of mung bean, to obtain an alternative source of healthy food simply. A single factor of randomized block design was used in this study. Each treatment level was conducted in triplicates. The whole mung bean seeds were subjected to five different times of soaking, namely control (without soaking) and soaking for 2, 4, 6, and 8 hrs. Total starch, in vitro starch digestibility, protein content, and in vitro protein digestibility of freeze-dried and grounded whole mung beans were analyzed. The results showed a trend of the total starch content and starch digestibility decreasing during the longer soaking time, in a range of 39.14-33.52% and 57.46-49.82%, respectively. Based on the rate of starch hydrolysis, the digestibility of mung bean starch classified as slowly digestible starch. There was a trend of increasing protein digestibility of mung bean seeds during soaking up to 6 hrs of soaking time (in a range of 46.93- 51.29%). Based on these results, the suggested soaking time was 6 hrs which gave optimum digestibility of starch and protein for human consumption. The recommendation is to obtain the benefits of a healthy food source for people with diabetes mellitus.