Microbiologists have found the bacteria resonsible for preparing fart-free beans (Image: iStockphoto)
Posted on 04/26/2006 6:26:40 PM PDT by SJackson
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006
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Microbiologists have found the bacteria resonsible for preparing fart-free beans (Image: iStockphoto) |
Beans cooked with a pinch of bacteria means diners can tuck in without the explosive results, scientists say.
Researchers from Venezuela say two strains of bacteria are the key to producing fart-free beans.
They show how Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum can be added to beans so they cause minimal distress to those who eat them, and to those around them.
Marisela Granito of Simon Bolivar University in Caracas and colleagues report their results in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
Flatulence is caused by bacteria that live in the large intestine that break down food not already digested higher in the gut. The gas the bacteria produce is emitted from the body as a fart.
Granito and colleagues found that adding these two gut bacteria to black beans, or Phaseolus vulgaris, before cooking makes them even less likely to cause flatulence.
"Legumes, and particularly Phaseolus vulgaris, are an important source of nutrients, especially in developing countries," Granito's team writes.
"In spite of being part of the staple diets of these populations, their consumption is limited by the flatulence they produce."
Smart cooks know they can ferment beans, and make them less gas-inducing, by cooking them in the juices from a previous batch.
But Granito's team wanted to find out just which bacteria were responsible.
Cooking up a storm
When the researchers fermented black beans with the two bacteria, they found it decreased the soluble fibre content by more than 60% and lowered levels of raffinose, a compound known to cause gas, by 88%.
They fed the beans to rats and then analysed the rats' droppings to ensure that the beans were digested and kept their nutritional value.
When pre-soaked in L. casei, the beans stayed nutritious and produced few gas-causing compounds, the researchers report.
"Therefore, the lactic acid bacteria involved in the bean fermentation, which include L. casei as a probiotic, could be used as functional starter cultures in the food industry," the researchers write.
"Likewise, the cooking applied after induced fermentation produced an additional diminution of the compounds related to flatulence."
Fart free beans. I swear, people just want to take the joy out of everything.
Now that is just not right. First they want to take my guns away, and now they want to take away my other lethal weapons.
Dang, I guess we rednecks are going to have to find another catalyst for a bubble bath...
Boil beans in water for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let it sit for 2-4 hours with the cover on. Or traditionally- soak overnight or 12 hours.
Next drain and discard the rinse water, rinse again then cover with fresh cold water.
Be sure to thoroughly cook the beans -one to four hours depending on the texture and legume.
This is not exactly a new development to many people.
What fun are fart-free beans?
Write your legislators guys! This is the last straw! What a bunch of Killjoys.
All you have to do is cook them. You know the fart is gone when the beans crack.
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At least, that's what my father always told me.
Becki
What...??? All my 401K funds are invested in musical fruit futures. WO IS ME.
Not only that but it is one of the funniest scenes ever filmed!
Pull my finger.....
Geez, sort of eliminates one of the great virtues of beans.
My daughter lived with a family in the sticks of Nigaragua for several months and lived pretty much on rice and beans. I asked her if she had a gas problem. She said no, when you live on them, your body adjusts.
Besides, enough beans enables one to fart on queue. Very handy skill. Served me well in Books-A-Million. /snigger
This is a devious plot, formented by that Venezuelan dictator, attacking the American fartland.
Broke-Back Beans(tm)??? LOL
Karl Rove causes farts
This cannot be allowed to stand.
We must take to the streets. We must make our .... voices .... heard!!!
Becki
17 posts, and no one has posted ???
Beans, beans the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot!
I guess there really is no more toot.
Time for a chorus of "The Day The Music Died".
I guess this takes care of the "I Like to Fart Cookbook" quandary, eh?
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