How does cooking affect the nutrients in

green beans?
Introduction
Green beans are a perennial favorite vegetable. They are a
great addition to salads and can stand alone well as a
delightful side dish to many different entrees. Yet, just like
with other vegetables, the way you cook green beans can have
a dramatic effect not just on their color, taste and texture but
upon their nutrient content as well. Not only does the length of
cooking time determine whether your beans will be bright
green and crisp as compared to pale green and limp, but it also
determines how nutrient rich they will be. Like with many
other vegetables, shorter cooking time is key when it comes to
cooking green beans.
Background on green beans
Green beans, typically referred to as string beans, are in the
same family as the shell beans such as pinto, black and kidney.
Known scientifically as Phaseolus vulgaris, they are referred
to as "common beans," probably owing to the fact that they all
derived from a common bean ancestor that originated in Peru.
Yet, when describing the nutritional profile of green beans the
word "common" would not be a word you would use since
they are a storehouse of many different vitamins, minerals and
nutrients. That's why the cooking them properly is so
important!
The shape of green beans and the impact of
cooking

Although green beans might seem like a fairly strong, hearty,

and durable vegetable, this popular food is actually quite
sensitive to cooking times and temperatures. The reason is
simple. Compared to many other vegetables, green beans have
a large surface area and a small amount of space inside. This
large surface area exposes a lot more nutrients to air, light, and
heat than does a smaller surface area on a vegetable that is
more round in shape and has a larger space inside.
Green beans require minimal cooking
Don't let the strong outside shell of a green bean fool you.
Very little cooking is required to make a green bean
completely tender and ready for eating. When placed in a
steamer basket and steamed, no more than 3-7 minutes are
usually required to obtain the perfect result!
Short term cooking can best retain green
beans' nutrients - focus on vitamin C and
vitamin B6
When green beans are cooked for significantly longer periods
of time, the loss of nutrients is dramatic. Even one extra
minute's worth of steaming can leech additional vitamins from
the green beans! Up to one half of the vitamin C and 40% of
the vitamin B6 can be lost when green beans are overcooked.
Effect of cooking on fiber
Much of the stringiness evident in the texture of green beans
comes from their high fiber content, notably from their
cellulose and hemicellulose content. Luckily, although this
fiber content decreases slightly with any amount of steaming,
the decrease is not significant. Therefore, by steaming your

green beans for a few minutes you can still enjoy the benefit
of this important nutrient.
Cover the pot to maximize nutrients
Since some of the nutrients found in green beans are
particularly sensitive to light, covering the pot when you are
steaming them is another way to reduce nutrient losses while
cooking. One of these nutrients is riboflavin (vitamin B2) and
studies have shown that prolonged exposure to light is a
critical factor in the loss of riboflavin during cooking.
Therefore, cover the pot while quickly steaming your green
beans so as to help to insure that these vegetables remain a
very good source of this very important nutrient.
Cooking and color change
As with most vegetables, color changes that occur in green
beans during cooking provide clues about nutrient loss. After
3-4 minutes of steaming, the green beans should start to take
on a more vibrant green hue. After 9-10 minutes, you'll start to
notice a drop in the intensity of color. After 15 minutes, you
should arrive at a more gray-green shade that is the green
bean's way of confirming major nutrient loss. Our advice: stop
when the beans take on their most vibrant shade of green,
provided they are still tender enough to enjoy.
Practical tips
To maximize the content of the nutrients of which green beans
are concentrated, quickly steam them until they have reached
their most vibrant shade of green (3-7 minutes will usually do
the trick). Cover the pot or pan whenever possible. Cooking
them this way will help you to enjoy green beans that are not

only exquisite in color, taste and texture but ones that have
also retained much of their nutrient content.
References
Kaack, K. Blanching of green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Plant
Foods Hum Nutr. 1994 Dec; 46(4):353-60.
Nursal, B. and Yucecan, S. Vitamin C losses in some frozen
vegetables due to various cooking methods. Nahrung. 2000
Dec; 44(6):451-3.
Reiter, L. A. and Driskell, J. A. VitaminB-6 content of
selected foods served in dining halls. J Am Diet Assoc. 1985
Dec; 85(12):1625-7.
Ross, J. K.; English, C., and Perlmutter, C. A. Dietary fiber
constituents of selected fruits and vegetables. J Am Diet
Assoc. 1985 Sep; 85(9):1111-6.