Health‐promoting effect of tofus prepared with mung bean and soybean

Background and objectives Mung bean is a nutritious legume rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals but low in lipid and diverse health‐promoting effects of that were known. This study prepared tofu with mung bean and soybean to incorporate the health‐promoting effect of mung bean into tofu and to extend diversity of food products of mung bean. Findings Flavonoid content and DPPH radical scavenging activity of tofus prepared with mung bean and soybean increased significantly with the addition of mung bean. Meanwhile, total phenolic content and ABTS radical scavenging activity were not significantly different among tofus, and reducing power was higher in tofu made with only mung bean than the other tofus. α‐Glucosidase inhibitory activity was the highest in the tofu with only soybean and decreased with the dosage of mung bean. Tofus with mung bean was more effect to improve cell viability and to reduce nitric oxide production ratio than that with only soybean. Conclusions The health‐promoting effects examined in this study were enhanced or similar in tofus with mung bean compared to that with soybean except α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity. This result implies that mung bean could be a good source for healthy food and useful ingredient to enhance the effect of diverse food products including tofu. Significance and novelty The health‐promoting effect of tofu with mung bean was rarely reported. The result of this study is obvious proof of the health benefit of mung bean resulting the promotion of mung bean consumption.