'Raising the Pulse' (RtP): Systems analysis of the environmental, nutritional and health benefits of pulse-enhanced foods

“提高脉冲（RtP）”是基于这样的概念，即如果我们能够使英国人口更容易吃更多的英国种植的豆类，将产生相当大的健康和环境效益。最适合英国的豆类是蚕豆，它天然富含蛋白质、微量营养素和纤维，对环境的影响是所有作物中最低的，因为它可以“固定”大气中的氮，而不需要污染硝酸盐肥料。然而，大多数人不会大幅增加消费，除非他们成功地将其纳入熟悉的外观和口味，经济和方便的主食，如面包。这一点迄今尚未做到，因为生产者没有经济动力供应具有确定的最终用途质量的原材料，加工者也没有经济动力重新配置其加工厂以适应新的原材料。需要一个重大的刺激，如本研究所提供的，以鼓励食品制造商使用英国豆类，以满足消费者对植物性和富含豆类食品的需求，而不是进口主要以大豆为基础的成分。RtP解决了这一市场失败，汇集了一个财团，开发可行的路线，以市场为英国生产的食品添加蚕豆。该项目包括不同领域的专家，包括环境，农业，食品，营养，健康和消费者行为，他们在这一领域有着良好的记录，他们将与工业，政府和民间社会合作解决五个相关的挑战：挑战1：如何最大限度地减少为满足特定质量标准而种植的蚕豆对环境的影响？我们将进行广泛的田间试验，以建立种植协议，使用最好的遗传学，农艺学和收获后技术，同时对环境影响进行详细测量，以最大限度地提高每单位面积产生的养分量。挑战2：如何制备来自挑战1的蚕豆以掺入各种食品中，使得它们保留最高可能的营养价值和最小的变化，尝一尝？在成功进行试点面包制作试验以证明可行性之后，我们将优化品种选择，预处理和碾磨步骤，以获得可以成功与小麦粉结合的蚕豆粉，以制作RtP面包，这是传统面包的可接受替代品，但具有额外的营养和环境效益。挑战3：多吃豆类对营养摄入和人体健康有什么影响？将使用RtP面包进行人类研究，以确定营养素的可用性及其对饥饿和健康标志物的影响。此外，还将进行两项消费者研究，一项在学生霍尔斯进行，另一项在阅读大学校园的餐饮店进行。这些将调查是否蚕豆提供的RtP面包和其他食品导致更健康的饮食和更好的营养知识时，他们的好处given.Challenge 4：如何理解消费者的态度，偏好和行为被用来实现最佳的脉冲摄入量的增加？解决这一关键问题将涉及审查证据，进行焦点小组，调查，选择实验和测试市场推出。这将包括确定人们如何看待保护权面包和相关食品，它们是否受到喜爱并因此被选择，以及了解它们的益处是否会促进它们的消费。挑战五：将联合收割机收集到的所有数据在整个项目中创建一个豆类（特别是蚕豆）生产，制造和消费之间相互作用的过度数学模型。该模型将用于确定立法和消费者行为对环境和健康的影响，并预测具体干预措施的结果，以加速英国人口向含有更多豆类的饮食过渡。

'Raising the Pulse (RtP)' is based on the concept that considerable health and environmental benefit would result if we could make it easier for the UK population to eat more UK grown pulses. The pulse best suited to the UK, the faba bean, is naturally high in protein, micronutrients and fibre, and has the lowest environmental impact of all crops, as it can 'fix' nitrogen from the atmosphere with no need for polluting nitrate fertilizers. However, most of the population will not significantly increase their consumption unless they are successfully incorporated into familiar looking and tasting, economic and convenient staple foods, such as bread. This has not been done to date because economic incentives do not exist for producers to supply raw materials with defined end use quality, nor for processors to reconfigure their processing plant to accommodate a new raw material. A major stimulus such as that provided by this study is required to encourage food manufacturers to use UK pulses to satisfy consumer demand for plant-based and pulse-rich foods rather than importing chiefly soy-based ingredients. RtP addresses this market failure by bringing together a consortium to develop feasible routes to market for UK produced foods with added faba beans. The project includes experts in diverse areas, including environment, agriculture, food, nutrition, health and consumer behaviour, who have a demonstrated track record in this area and who will work with industry, government and civil society to tackle five linked challenges:Challenge 1: how can environmental impacts of faba beans grown to meet specific quality standards be minimised? We will conduct extensive field trials to establish growing protocols to maximise the amount of nutrients produced per unit area using the best available genetics, agronomy and post-harvest technologies while making detailed measurements of environmental impacts.Challenge 2: how can faba beans from Challenge 1 be prepared for incorporation into a variety of food products such that they retain the highest possible nutritional value and minimal change in taste? Following successful pilot breadmaking trials conducted to demonstrate feasibility, we will optimise cultivar selection, pre-processing and milling steps to obtain faba bean flours that can be successfully combined with wheat flour to make RtP bread that is an acceptable alternative to conventional bread, but with added nutritional and environmental benefits. Challenge 3: what effects do eating more pulses have on nutritional intake and human health? A human study will be performed using RtP bread to determine nutrient availability and its effects on hunger and health markers. Furthermore, two consumer studies, one in student halls of residence and one in the catering outlets on the University of Reading campus, will be conducted. These will investigate whether faba beans offered as RtP breads and in other foods result in a healthier diet and better nutritional knowledge when information of their benefits is given.Challenge 4: how can understanding of consumer attitudes, preferences and behaviours be used to achieve optimum increase in pulse intake? Addressing this crucial point will involve reviewing evidence, performing focus groups, surveys, choice experiment and test market launch. This will include determination of how RtP bread and related foods are perceived, whether they are liked and, therefore, chosen and whether knowledge of their benefits promotes their consumption. Challenge 5: will combine all data collected across the project to create an over-arching mathematical model of interactions between pulse (particularly faba bean) production, manufacturing and consumption. This model will be used to determine the influence on environment and health of legislation and consumer behaviour and to predict the outcomes of specific interventions to hasten the transition of the UK population to a diet that contains more pulses.