The objective of the investigation was to determine the antioxidant activity of bean seeds, the effect of thermal processing on this activity, and the contents of different groups of polyphenol compounds in those beans. The investigation material consisted of five new cultivars of bean seeds: four coloured cultivars: Augusta, Nigeria, Rawela, and Toffi, and one white: Laponia. The raw and cooked seeds were analyzed. The antioxidant activity of the products investigated was defined as the scavenging capability of synthetic free radical DPPH^•, as well as the efficiency of reducing TPTZ-complexed Fe(III) ions (FRAP method). Spectrophotometric methods were applied to determine polyphenol compounds. Seeds of the coloured bean varieties turned out to be a rich source of polyphenol compounds, they contained from 427 mg (Toffi) to 760 mg (Rawela) of polyphenols in total per 100 g d.m.. The antioxidant activity of the four bean varieties was 10 to 20 times higher than the antioxidant activity of the white variety, and was correlated with the contents of polyphenol compounds. When the beans were hydro-thermally processed, the contents of polyphenol compounds in them decreased by more than 50%, thus, their antioxidant activity decreased, too. However, the activity of the coloured bean varieties remained high, and this shows that the biological value of those varieties is higher compared with the white bean varieties.