What are adzuki beans

Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis L.), sometimes called small red beans (approximately 5 mm) or English red mung bean, is a dietary legume crop in East Asian countries like China, Japan, and Korea as an ingredient for traditional dessert cuisines due to its sweet taste, as well as its nutritious protein and starch contents ¹. Consumption of legumes potentially reduces the risk of chronic diseases ² such as stroke, type II diabetes ³, cardiovascular ⁴, and gastrointestinal cancer ⁵. In addition to fiber, legume grains also contain many substances to improve health such as vitamins, minerals, and other substances, including phenolic compounds ³. The annual cultivation area for adzuki bean in China, Japan, Korean peninsula, and Taiwan is estimated to be 670,000, 120,000, 30,000, and 20,000 hectares, respectively ⁶. The wild species of adzuki bean such as Vigna angularis var. nipponensis, Vigna nakashimae, and Vigna nepalensis, are widely distributed across East Asia and Himalayan countries ⁷. However, archaeological evidences suggested multiple domestication origins in northeast Asia ⁸. The Adzuki bean cultivars most familiar in Northeast Asia have a uniform red color, however, white, black, gray, and variously mottled varieties also are known.

The predominant use of adzuki beans in traditional Japanese confections is a paste or wagashi such as youkan, manju and amanatto ⁹. Adzuki beans are a rich source of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber ¹⁰; however, adzuki beans also contain antinutritional factors ¹¹. Antinutritional factors are substances that when present in human foods or water reduce the availability of one or more nutrients. Phytates, α-galactosides and trypsin inhibitors are among these antinutritional factors, and their concentrations differ widely among the different cultivars of adzuki beans. Therefore, when adzuki beans are used for confectionaries, they are boiled in a cooker and yield a hot water extract as a by-product, which is known to contain active ingredients, but is discarded. It has been reported that the 40% (w/v) ethanol fraction of the hot-water extract from adzuki beans suppresses not only proliferation of human stomach cancer cells in culture but also benzo(α)pyrene-induced tumorigenesis in the mouse fore-stomach ¹². Thus, the hot-water extract of adzuki beans has a number of effects according to studies in animals (e.g., rats) ¹³. Thompson et al. ¹⁴ have reported that polyphenols and phytic acid have potential hypoglycemic activity. A study in rats with with streptozotocin induced diabetes show that adzuki bean paste produced by boiling adzuki beans has inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase, alpha-amylase, maltase, sucrase, and isomaltase ¹⁵. The adzuki bean paste showed potential hypoglycemic activity in both normal mice and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats after an oral administration of sucrose, but did not show any effect on the blood glucose concentration after glucose administration, suggesting that the active fraction suppressed the postprandial blood glucose level by inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase, irrespective of the endogenous blood insulin level. Wu et al. ¹⁶ have shown recently that a water-soluble extract of the adzuki beans could inhibit acetaminophen-induced liver damage. Han et al. ¹⁷ have reported the protective action of an adzuki extract against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity via a hepatic γ-glutamylcysteinylglycine-mediated antioxidation/detoxification system in rat liver after four weeks of feeding.

Figure 1. Adzuki beans

Adzuki beans nutrition

Cooked adzuki beans are 66% water, 25% carbohydrates, including 7.3% dietary fiber, 8% protein, and contain negligible fat. In a 100 gram amount, cooked beans provide 128 Calories. Adzuki beans contain a moderate to high content (10% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of the B vitamin folate (30% DV) and several dietary minerals (11% to 27% DV).

The fatty acids compositions of total lipids and phospholipids in the adzuki beans were compared among the five cultivars (data not shown). The low total lipid contents of adzuki beans is similar to other foods – cereals as rice and rye, and legumes as bean, chick-pea and beans, that have less than 2% of fat, but with the advantage that the fat of the adzuki bean possesses a healthy Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) omega-6/omega-3 which are essential fatty acids for human nutrition. Adzuki beans has good amounts of total unsaturated fatty acids which consisted mainly of linoleic (18:2n-6) acid, followed by α-linolenic (18:3n-3) and oleic (18:1n-9) acids, representing 70.6-73.8 wt-% and 69.9-72.6 wt-% for total lipids and phospholipids, respectively.

Table 1. Adzuki beans (mature seeds raw) nutrition facts

Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100 g
Approximates
Water	g	13.44
Energy	kcal	329
Energy	kJ	1377
Protein	g	19.87
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.53
Ash	g	3.26
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	62.9
Fiber, total dietary	g	12.7
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	66
Iron, Fe	mg	4.98
Magnesium, Mg	mg	127
Phosphorus, P	mg	381
Potassium, K	mg	1254
Sodium, Na	mg	5
Zinc, Zn	mg	5.04
Copper, Cu	mg	1.094
Manganese, Mn	mg	1.73
Selenium, Se	µg	3.1
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	0
Thiamin	mg	0.455
Riboflavin	mg	0.22
Niacin	mg	2.63
Pantothenic acid	mg	1.471
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.351
Folate, total	µg	622
Folic acid	µg	0
Folate, food	µg	622
Folate, DFE	µg	622
Vitamin B-12	µg	0
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	1
Retinol	µg	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	17
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	µg	0
Vitamin D	IU	0
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.191
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.05
18:1 undifferentiated	g	0.05
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.113
18:2 undifferentiated	g	0.113
Fatty acids, total trans	g	0
Cholesterol	mg	0
Phytosterols	mg	76
Amino Acids
Tryptophan	g	0.191
Threonine	g	0.674
Isoleucine	g	0.791
Leucine	g	1.668
Lysine	g	1.497
Methionine	g	0.21
Cystine	g	0.184
Phenylalanine	g	1.052
Tyrosine	g	0.591
Valine	g	1.023
Arginine	g	1.284
Histidine	g	0.524
Alanine	g	1.16
Aspartic acid	g	2.355
Glutamic acid	g	3.099
Glycine	g	0.756
Proline	g	0.874
Serine	g	0.976
Isoflavones
Daidzein	mg	0.35
Genistein	mg	0.23
Glycitein	mg	0
Total isoflavones	mg	0.58
Biochanin A	mg	0
Formononetin	mg	0
Coumestrol	mg	0
Proanthocyanidin
Proanthocyanidin dimers	mg	19.4
Proanthocyanidin trimers	mg	18.1
Proanthocyanidin 4-6mers	mg	80
Proanthocyanidin 7-10mers	mg	75.7
Proanthocyanidin polymers (>10mers)	mg	252.9

[Source: United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service ¹⁸]

Table 2. Adzuki beans (mature seeds cooked or boiled without added salt) nutrition facts

Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100 g
Approximates
Water	g	66.29
Energy	kcal	128
Energy	kJ	536
Protein	g	7.52
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.1
Ash	g	1.33
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	24.77
Fiber, total dietary	g	7.3
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	28
Iron, Fe	mg	2
Magnesium, Mg	mg	52
Phosphorus, P	mg	168
Potassium, K	mg	532
Sodium, Na	mg	8
Zinc, Zn	mg	1.77
Copper, Cu	mg	0.298
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.573
Selenium, Se	µg	1.2
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	0
Thiamin	mg	0.115
Riboflavin	mg	0.064
Niacin	mg	0.717
Pantothenic acid	mg	0.43
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.096
Folate, total	µg	121
Folic acid	µg	0
Folate, food	µg	121
Folate, DFE	µg	121
Vitamin B-12	µg	0
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	0
Retinol	µg	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	6
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	µg	0
Vitamin D	IU	0
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.036
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.009
18:1 undifferentiated	g	0.009
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.021
18:2 undifferentiated	g	0.021
Fatty acids, total trans	g	0
Cholesterol	mg	0
Amino Acids
Tryptophan	g	0.072
Threonine	g	0.255
Isoleucine	g	0.3
Leucine	g	0.632
Lysine	g	0.567
Methionine	g	0.079
Cystine	g	0.07
Phenylalanine	g	0.398
Tyrosine	g	0.224
Valine	g	0.387
Arginine	g	0.486
Histidine	g	0.198
Alanine	g	0.439
Aspartic acid	g	0.891
Glutamic acid	g	1.173
Glycine	g	0.286
Proline	g	0.331
Serine	g	0.369

[Source: United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service ¹⁸]

Adzuki beans health benefits

Adzuki bean is a very important bean in the East Asia. Adzuki bean is used as a diuretic, antidote, and remedy for edema and beriberi in traditional Chinese medicine ¹⁹ and being prescribed for infection and inflammation of the appendix, kidney and bladder ²⁰. Water and methanolic or ethanolic extracts of azuki bean have been demonstrated to up-regulate inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and to reduce blood pressure ²¹, decrease serum cholesterol levels ²² and ameliorate diabetes progression ²³. Azuki bean seed coats, which are rich in polyphenols, were recently reported to attenuate vascular oxidative stress in spontaneously hypertensive rats ²⁴. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of the beneficial effects of azuki bean. To date, only one study has reported the immunomodulatory mechanism of azuki bean extract: an ethanol extract inhibited nuclear factor (NF)-κB, activator protein (AP)-1, and cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) activation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-, poly(I:C)- and pam3CSK-activated macrophages and blocked the activation of the upstream signalling molecules, including p38 and TAK1 ²⁵. Blockade of IL-6 activities with tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 receptor antibody) has been reported to significantly reduce disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis, indicating that IL-6 is strongly involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis ²⁶. This study ²⁷ showed that the inhibitory activity of adzuki beans on IL-6 signalling was associated with an anti-rheumatic effect by using a collagen-induced arthritis mice model. Oral administration of adzuki beans extract suppressed tissue damage occurring in collagen-induced arthritis. The adzuki beans extract triterpenoids — oleanolic acid and oleanolic acid acetate— have the potential to be an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, but requires furhter investigation and studies in order to be considered for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

Polyphenols are plant secondary metabolites and have attracted interest with health benefits ²⁸. Genistein, a polyphenol compound, belongs to the category of isoflavones, and has been found almost every leguminous plants including adzuki beans (Figure 3). Early studies indicated that genistein protects age-associated degenerative disorders such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) ²⁹, hepatic failure ³⁰, diabetes, obesity ³¹ and brain damage ³². In addition, genistein proved to be effective in neuroprotection and bone loss in animal models via estrogen-mimicking activity ³³.

Figure 3. Adzuki beans genistein

[Source ³⁴]

Phenolic compounds are resistant to oxidation and protect cell damage to prevent the risk of degenerative diseases thanks to antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and anticarcinogenic activities ³⁵. There were 11 phenolic constituents identified in adzuki beans ³⁶. Total phenolics are naturally produced during the growth and development of plants to protect themselves from biotic stresses such as diseases, insects and environmental stresses ³⁵. Antioxidant activity is closely related to phenolic content ³⁷. The change in total phenolic content in legumes during germination is illustrated in Table 3. The phenolic concentration dramatically increased in all legumes after five days of germination. In ungerminated grains, the content of total phenolics ranged from 5.80 (mung beans) to 18.21 (peanuts) mg GAE/g dry sample. After 5 days of sprouting, the phenolic content in mung beans, white cowpeas, soybeans and peanuts increased 2-fold, while that in black beans and adzuki beans showed about a 50% and 25% increase, respectively. In particular, peanuts had the highest concentration, which was 37.59 mg GAE/g, followed by soybeans (28.27 mg GAE/g), white cowpeas (19.46 mg GAE/g), adzuki beans (16.96 mg GAE/g), black beans (16.47 mg GAE/g), and mung beans (14.97 mg GAE/g). Adzuki beans and black beans are dark skin seeds that contain anthocyanidin pigments consisting of delphinidin, cyanidin, pelargonidin, malvidin, and petunidin ³⁸.

Table 3. Total phenolic content (mg GAE/g dry weight) of ungerminated and germinated legumes

Note: Means ± SD (standard deviation) that do not share a superscript letter are significantly different at 95% confidential level.

[Source ³⁶]

Table 4. Phenolic components and concentrations (µg/g dry weight) of legumes after 5-day germination

Phenolic components	Black Beans	Mung Beans	Peanuts	Adzuki Beans	Soybeans	White Cowpeas
Gallic acid	nd	nd	nd	nd	21.3 ± 2.9	nd
Protocatechuic acid	nd	nd	15.1 ± 2.5 b	2.2 ± 0.1 c	41.5 ± 6.6 a	nd
p-hydroxybenzoic acid	24.1 ± 1.0 b	15.9 ± 0.3 b	16.8 ± 0.1 b	19.5 ± 0.6 b	66.6 ± 0.8 a	nd
Vanillic acid	43.8 ± 0.8 c	5.2 ± 0.7e	67.6 ± 0.8 b	25.2 ± 0.9 d	189.2 ± 10.1 a	nd
Caffeic acid	nd	nd	nd	nd	nd	70.8 ± 6.6
Syringic acid	79.8 ± 1.7 b	16.7 ± 1.8 c	nd	23.8 ± 0.8 c	327.5 ± 14.9 a	30.4 ± 5.3 c
Vanillin	12.4 ± 0.8 b	14.2 ± 0.5 b	nd	15.9 ± 2.9 b	nd	28.9 ± 3.3 a
Ferulic acid	nd	26.6 ± 2.8 c	330.3 ± 16.0 a	15.7 ± 1.6 c	72.9 ± 5.6 b	18.2 ± 0.8 c
Sinapic acid	109.1 ± 0.5 c	163.5 ± 3.8 b	247.9 ± 21.1 a	150.7 ± 4.6 b	218.1 ± 7.5 a	99.65 ± 7.4 c
p-coumaric acid	72.1 ± 3.1 b	288.7 ± 3.6 a	nd	14.4 ± 2.8 c	18.1 ± 4.5 c	81.95 ± 0.65 b
Benzoic acid	253.5 ± 26.7 b	636.0 ± 2.4 a	nd	124.8 ± 51.9 c	nd	199.5 ± 36.4 bc
Ellagic acid	54.4 ± 3.9 ns	nd	126.2 ± 89.3 ns	30.3 ± 4.0 ns	59.6 ± 2.4 ns	48.3 ± 6.5 ns
Cinnamic acid	14.85 ± 2.9 ab	4.0±0.1 b	62.9 ± 35.6 a	3.1 ± 0.2 b	36.2 ± 1.5 ab	12.5 ± 3.2 ab

Note: Means ± SD (standard deviation) that do not share a letter in the same row are significantly different at 95% confidential level. ns: not significantly different; nd: not detected.

[Source ³⁶]

Table 5. Antioxidant activities of 5-day germinated legume extracts

[Source ³⁶]

Although no evidence is available for the mechanism of action of common beans on other kinds of cancer, the antiproliferative effect of legumes, including Adzuki beans, has been explored ⁴¹. Adzuki bean exhibited the strongest antiproliferative properties in a dose-dependent manner against all digestive system cancer cell lines (CAL27, AGS, HepG2, SW480 and Caco-2), ovary cancer cell SK-OV-3 and breast cancer cell MCF-7 among all legumes tested ⁴². Nakaya et al. ⁴³ suggested that adzuki bean and its heat-stable extract is immunopotentiating foods that can be used as dietary supplements for cancer prevention and immunotherapy. Adzuki bean stimulates differentiation of bone marrow cells into immature dendritic cells with the greatest efficacy compared to 30 types of edible beans with biological activity. The level of IL-6 produced by sequential treatment of dendritic cells with Adzuki extract and lipopolysaccharide was the highest among the examined beans. Adzuki beans extract also inhibited the growth of human leukemia U937 cells, leading to induction of apoptosis. Further research is warranted regarding the implications and the molecular mechanisms in which adzuki beans and their bioactive compounds modulate the development of different types of cancer.

Hot-water adzuki beans extract contains such chemical compounds as catechins and saponins which are well-known bioactive ingredients ⁴⁴. Ito and colleagues have previously reported that the 40% ethanol-eluted fraction of hot-water adzuki beans extract and HP-20 resin possessed antitumor ⁴⁵, antioxidative ⁴⁶ anti-metastatic ⁴⁶ and anti-diabetic activities, ⁴⁷, lowered the serum cholesterol levels ⁴⁸ and enhanced melanogenesis ⁴⁹. The color of hot-water adzuki beans extract originates from (+)-catechin ⁵⁰. Choi et al. ⁵¹ and Nakamura et al. ⁵² have reported that (+)-catechin and green tea catechin regulated osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation.

Obesity increases the risk of metabolic disorders such as hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes ⁵³. Both an increased number of adipocytes (fat cells), due to enhanced differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes, and increased adipocyte size due to lipid accumulation are shown to participate in the expansion of adipose tissue ⁵⁴. Numerous studies have suggested that oxidative stress may be the linking mechanism in the pathway leading from obesity to obesity-related chronic diseases ⁵⁵. Black adzuki bean exhibited the greatest antioxidant activity compared to 20 other kinds of adzuki beans ⁵⁶. Adzuki beans have been evaluated as potential remedies for hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, and inflammation in mice and rats ⁵⁷, ⁵⁸ and preliminary data have shown that black adzuki beans inhibit proliferation and mitotic clonal expansion and subsequently inhibit the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells ⁵⁹. Although recent studies have reported evidence that the adzuki beans affect the regulation of lipid metabolism, it remains to be determined whether they may be effective in overcoming obesity by regulating appetite and satiety. Chau et al. ⁶⁰ observed no changes in serum total cholesterol, LDL “bad” cholesterol and HDL “good” cholesterol levels in hamsters fed a hypercholesterolemic diet by using a adzuki bean protein concentrate.

In a study on mouse, a hot-water extract of adzuki beans was found to stimulate tyrosinase activity in cultured mouse B16 melanoma cells and hair color pigmentation in C3H mice ⁶¹. At concentrations of 1–3 mg/ml, adzuki beans hot-water extract stimulated melanogenesis without inhibiting cell growth. During this effect, WEx activated tyrosinase-inducing activity in the cells, but did not activate tyrosinase, which exists at an intracellular level. In this study, adzuki beans hot-water extract increased cyclic adenosine-3′,5′-monophospate (cAMP) content in the cells and protein kinase A (PKA) activity, and stimulated translocation of cytosolic protein kinase C to the membrane-bound protein kinase C ⁶¹. These results suggest that the addition of adzuki beans hot-water extract activates the adenylcyclase and protein kinase pathways and, as a result, stimulates melanogenesis. Adzuki beans hot-water extract was found to have pigmentation activity on hair color in C3H mice. This effect might be useful in anti-graying, protecting human skin from irradiation ⁶¹.

Azuki beans contain polyphenols such as proanthocyanidins that exhibit potential radical scavenging activities ⁶². Spontaneously hypertensive rats with approximately 200 mm Hg systolic blood pressure were randomly divided into 2 groups fed either 0% or 0.9% azuki bean extract-containing diet. Azuki bean extract reduced the elevated blood pressure and increased nitric oxide (NO) production in long-term treatment ⁶³.

Osteoporosis is a global public health problem thought to be caused by an imbalance in bone metabolism. Bone metabolic balance (bone resorption and bone formation) is maintained by osteoclasts and osteoblasts ⁶⁴. Aging is accompanied by disruption in bone metabolism leading to osteoporosis; the risk is particularly high in women who tend to lose bone after menopause. Aging-associated degeneration of the osteoblast function also reduces bone mass, as does malnutrition or under-nutrition (a deficiency of micronutrients and macronutrients). This study ⁶⁵ the 40% ethanol fraction in combination with a hot-water adzuki beans extract was examined for its effect on osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation. Adzuki beans extract -treated mice preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells exhibited significantly elevated alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization. Adzuki beans extract facilitated osteoblast differentiation by up-regulating such osteoblast differentiation-related molecules as runt-related transcription factor 2, distal-less homeobox 5, and osterix via p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. In summary this study ⁶⁵ suggest that 40% ethanol-eluted fraction of hot-water adzuki beans extract could be used to treat senile osteoporosis and postmenopausal osteoporosis. Lee et al. have reported that the consumption of such a legume as adzuki improved the levels of bone markers in ovariectomized rats ⁶⁶. However what the active compound is in the hot-water adzuki beans extract have yet to be elucidated. Further studies are needed to verify the effect of 40% ethanol-eluted fraction of hot-water adzuki beans extract on osteoporosis in animal models.

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