Effects of the quick-cooking processes on phytate and oligosaccharide levels, and on trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors, were investigated in three bean varieties (Phaseolus vulgaris L.: Great Northern, red kidney, and pinto). Beans soaked in distilled water had lower levels of phytate-P than those soaked in a mixed salt solution. Leaching losses of oligosaccharides were nearly the same in different soaking treatments for all the beans except kidney beans. Residual trypsin inhibitor activities (TIA) in cooked quick-cooking beans were about 10% compared with about 20% for chymotrypsin inhibitor activities (CTIA) in the same bean products. -Irradiation was more effective in reducing TIA than CTIA and paralleled destruction by moist heat.