A B S T R A C TThe effects of germination on total protein and amino acids, and phytic acid of beans of Glycine max L , Glycine hispida L, Phaseolus radiatus L and Phaseolus angularis L were studied. The increase in total crude protein content was > 21 % for Glycine beans and 8-15 % for Phaseolus beans.There was a marked increase in the total essential amino acids of Glycine max (76%) and Phaseolus radiatus (52%). A smaller increase was observed for Phaseolus angularis (25 %) and Glycine hispida (3 %). The phytic acid contents of the beans were drastically reduced ( < 0.2 %), mainly due to leaching into the soak water. Total ash content showed a decrease, too, also due to leaching; the loss of potassium was very high whereas losses of the divalent metals, calcium, iron and magnesium, were only moderate, probably because of the ability of divalent cations to bind to protein to form proteincation-phytate complexes and also because divalent salts of phytic acid are insoluble at moderate to high pHs.