Development of value-added pulse-flour for potential ingredient in domestic and industrial food preparation

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The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nation has listed 16 crop types (adzuki beans, bambara groundnut, faba bean, chickpea, common bean, cowpea, hyacinth bean, lentils, lima bean, lupin, moth bean, mung bean, mungo bean, pea, pigeon pea, and rice bean) as pulses. These pulses are generally high in protein content (21-45%), and each type has unique nutritional properties and sensory attributes. Canada is the second largest producer of pulses in the world. From a nutrition standpoint, the presence of antinutrients, indigestible carbohydrates (alpha-galactosides) and beany flavor are the key barriers for the consumption of pulses in whole form or the incorporation of pulse flours in other food preparation. Removing these barriers through innovative processing technology will add value, and elevate the demand for pulses in food industries, especially in the preparation of high protein food products. The outcome of this project will yield innovative and commercially feasible processing techniques to produce value added pulse flour with enhanced quality. The processed pulse flours will be evaluated for their blendability with wheat flour and other ingredients for food preparation. This value-added pulse flours will become a potential ingredient (stand alone or to blend with other flours) to improve protein content in both domestic and industrial food preparations. Since Canada is the largest exporter of raw pulses, there are ample opportunities for the establishment of new processing industries for this product to meet the current demands in domestic and global market. Also, the improved availability of these value-added flours in the market will promote the consumption of plant proteins among Canadians. The elevated demand for the value added pulse flour products would benefit Canadian farmers through increasing farm prices for the pulses.