Beans As Ingredients in "Better for You" Foods: Opportunities for Breeding.

High in protein, fiber and many "short-fall" nutrients including potassium, dry beans have the potential to substantially affect public health - but only if people eat them. Historically, beans have been available in the food supply as whole beans in dry or canned forms, and as consumer eating patterns shifted away from home-prepared meals to ready-to-eat convenience and snack foods, beans were left in the background. But with today's consumers looking for clean-label, nutrient-dense ingredients and food makers looking for compliments to traditional grians, the humble dry bean has become the new rising star of food trends. Processing dry beans into milled ingredients for use in bakery and snack applications offers an opportunity to expand the market for dry beans and provide consumers with new "better-for-you" food products. This presentation will provide an overview of the use of beans as ingredients, and characteristics of beans that are important to ingredient processing and application functionality will be discussed.