Air-grown mung bean sprouts for food

by tonytran2015 (Melbourne, Australia).

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(Blog No.56).

#mung bean #sprout #food #no cooking #growing #in air #air grown #no substrate #nuclear shelter #nuclear disaster #stored food

The benefit of growing sprouts in ONLY AIR is that there is no substrate to be contaminated after all sprouts have been collected and there is no substrate waste with horrible rotting smell. It also allows the consumption of mung beans as food without cooking. It requires only drinkable water but uses no fuel.

Growing sprouts in ONLY AIR is also suitable for preparing bean sprouts when sheltering in bunkers after nuclear disaster (to avoid consuming hot released, fast decaying radioactive alkaline Cesium and alkaline earth Strontium nuclei).

1. Growing beans into sprouts.

When beans grow into sprouts, they convert the highly compact stored energy and materials into small plants to continue the propagation of their genes.

The beans need a triggering signal before it enter into this process. In nature, a wrong starting time may mean extinction for the beans. The triggering happens in nature with beans falling into flood water or very wet soggy ground at the end of a rainy the season. After that the sprouts need drier soil to breath and grow. The sprouts will try to grab a substrate with their hairy roots and will grow vertically.

It is easier for human to consume sprouts than to consume the highly compact mung beans. This is the reason for growing sprouts from beans for consumption.

An additional benefit of eating sprouts from stored beans is the sprouts have plenty of Calcium and Potassium, which can supply the requirements of our bodies if we have to wait in nuclear shelters for the short term radioactive Cesium and Strontium nuclei to decay in the outside environment after a nuclear disaster. Mung beans are thus useful grains for short term food after nuclear disasters.

(According to Wikipedia, 100g of beans contain

Calcium 132 mg

Iron 6.74 mg

Magnesium 189 mg

Manganese 1.035 mg

Phosphorus 367 mg

Potassium 1246 mg

Zinc 2.68 mg).

2. Materials.

1a. Mung beans (uncooked and in good condition).

Figure: Good mung beans for making sprouts.

Remember that mung beans will increase in volume and in weight when they become sprouts and only a very small initial volume of beans will grow into a cupful of sprouts.

1b. Two identical clear plastic drink cups with their corresponding hemispherical dome lids.

Figure: A clear plastic cup with hemispherical dome lid for growing sprouts.

3. Making the container for growing mung beans.

Make about 10 perforation holes on the bottom of one cup, enlarge them so that a fully filled cup of water can drip out of these holes in less than 10 seconds.

The second cup is to be fitted onto the outside of the first cup to control the flow of water through the perforations. To stop water from leaving the inner cup the second cup is slipped tightly on its outside. To drain water from the inside cup, the outside cup gradually loosened to let water drip into it from the inner cup, the outside cup is then emptied.

4. Soaking mung beans.

To make sprouts from mung beans, the beans must be first soaked in water until germination. The steps are in the following:

Place 3 layers of beans on the bottom of the inner cup.

Fill water until water surface is 1cm higher than the top layer of beans.

Fit the hemispherical lid on the cup (optional, to prevent spilling if the cup is knocked from its position).

The cup is left standing like that for about 12 hours to soak the beans until they germinate with a 2mm sprout on most of the beans.

Timing is NOW STARTED.

5. Growing sprouts from germinating beans.

Fill the inner cup with water to full capacity. The beans and sprout should be able to move freely in this water.

Loosen the outer cup to gradually and completely drain water from the inner cup.

Empty the outside cup and slip it back onto the inner cup.

Tumble (and also roll) the covered double layered cup to spread germinating beans on the side of the cup,

Lay the cup on a horizontal surface, with the rim resting about 10mm higher than the bottom.

Let the cup rest like that for 12 hour then repeat all the above steps of this section.

Sprouts can be seen growing bigger in each 12 hour period.

6. Results

Figure: A horizontal cup is almost full of sprouts after 30 hours (Top view of horizontal cup.). The cup is double layered, it is made up from a perforated one and another non-perforated one fitting tightly outside it.

Figure: Air-grown bean sprouts are ready for consumption after 30 hours. The double layered cup is standing upright without its lid.

After 30 hours, the horizontal cup is about 3/4-full with sprouts. It should be hold upright and filled with water for well grown sprouts to float to the top for the first harvesting. (Grown sprouts have lower specific gravity than beans and newly grown sprouts).

The cup containing unharvested beans and sprouts is then put through all steps of section 5 twice for another 24 hours. After that the horizontal cup is about 3/4-full with sprouts. It should be hold upright and filled with water for well grown sprouts to float to the top for the second harvesting.

All beans will grow into sprouts if the container have been effectively drained and tumbled (not rolled). Without tumbling, some beans may stick to the side of the cup and may remain under water for too long and may rot, creating horrible smell. Rolling is not effective in preventing rot of beans.

References:

[1]. tonytran2015, Mung Beans as grains for self-reliance, survivaltricks, https://survivaltricks.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/mung-beans-as-grains-for-self-reliance/, February 9, 2017.

[2]. Mung bean, wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mung_bean, accessed Mar 06, 2017.

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