Meili Chen

Jinhua Wucheng Chenmeili Family Farm, Jinhua, 321075, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Biological Evidence, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 4   
Received: 03 Jun., 2026    Accepted: 02 Jul., 2026    Published: 10 Jul., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important medicinal and edible legume crop. It is rich in various functional components, including polyphenols, flavonoids, polysaccharides, bioactive peptides, and phytosterols, which contribute to its high nutritional value and wide range of health-promoting effects. This paper systematically reviews recent advances in the composition, metabolic changes, and health benefits of bioactive compounds in mung bean. The results show that vitexin, isovitexin, polysaccharides, and bioactive peptides are the major substances responsible for its biological activities. These compounds can exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, and immunoregulatory effects by regulating signaling pathways such as Nrf2, PI3K/Akt, NF-κB, and TLR4. A large number of in vitro studies, animal experiments, and limited human clinical studies have demonstrated that mung bean and mung bean sprout products have good potential for improving metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, gut microbiota imbalance, and oxidative stress-related damage. At the same time, processing technologies such as germination, fermentation, thermal treatment, and ultrasound-assisted treatment can significantly alter the composition of bioactive compounds in mung bean, improve their bioavailability and functional activity, and provide technical support for the development of functional foods and nutraceutical products. Although the medicinal and edible value of mung bean has attracted considerable attention, there are still gaps in understanding the structure-activity relationships of its bioactive compounds, their mechanisms of action, clinical evidence, and the development of standardized products. Future studies should focus on multi-omics analysis, human clinical validation, and precision processing technologies to promote the industrial development and high-value utilization of mung bean-based functional products.

Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.); Medicinal and edible homology; Bioactive compounds; Health effects; Functional foods