b y K a r e n N a c h a y

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The Power of Pulses

Ah, the humble pulse. While pulses are nothing more than the dried seeds of legumes, and include

beans, dried peas, lentils, and chickpeas, they are proven as functionally multipur-pose and highly nutritious ingredients. What’s more, they are label-friendly, plant-based proteins with wide appeal among those interested in some of the hot-button topics affecting the food industry.

“Consumers are becoming more and more interested in the ingredients being used in their food products,” says Pat O’Brien, manager of strategic business development at Ingredion, Westchester, Ill. (ingredion.us). “They are looking for products that are nutritious but also deli-cious. It is important to many consumers

that the ingredients being used are clean and simple, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegetarian, and sustainably sourced. We have seen interest in vegetable-based ingredients skyrocket-ing, with one in three consumers stating that they prefer a vegetable-sourced pro-tein to an animal-sourced protein. Pulse-based ingredients such as flours and proteins derived from lentil, pea, chickpea, and faba bean allow for unique product positioning and meet the charac-teristics that consumers are looking for

in the ingredients being used in their food products.”

Why Pulses? Pulses are pretty popular these days for a number of reasons. “Pulses are extremely versatile, nutritious ingredi-ents that can be used in everything from soup staples to baked goods, providing 9 g of protein and more than 7.5 g of fiber per half-cup serving,” says Jessie Hunter, director of domestic marketing for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, Moscow, Idaho (usapulses.org). “Additionally, pulses are shelf stable and one of the most cost-effective protein sources around, costing about $.10/serv-ing, meaning higher profit margins for foodservice operators and food manufacturers.”

Hunter and other pulse ingredient experts like Jennifer Tesch, chief market-ing officer at Healthy Food Ingredients,

Fargo, N.D. (hfifamily.com), say that the fact that pulses are low allergen and naturally

gluten-free make them appealing to con-sumers who follow a gluten-free diet. And there’s another important aspect of pulses: their sustainability. “The use of beans and other pulses as ingredients definitely appeals to health-conscious consumers, but we’re also seeing an increase in consumer interest in the sus-tainability story of these crops,” says Janice Rueda, director of research and business development at ADM, Chicago, Ill. (adm.com). “Beans and pulses are important to sustainable crop systems and are part of farmers’ crop rotation strategies.”

Whole pulses are popular in burritos, soups, and chili, and they are also pro-cessed into different types of functional ingredients. Dried pulses are milled into flour, both raw and pre-gelatinized, which is produced from raw pulse flour that has been heated to partially gelati-nize starches and inactivate enzymes. In

With an extensive range of pulse ingredients available,product developers have a lot to consider in their formulation efforts.

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© egal/iStock/Thinkstock

As if bakery, snack, sauce, soup, beverage, and meat applications aren’t enough, pulse ingredients can be used in frozen novelties. Pulse Canada features a recipe for ice pops made with cooked split red lentils that are pureed with other ingredients before being frozen in molds. © picalotta/iStock/Thinkstock

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general, pre-gelatinized flour made from various

pulses can function as a flavor carrier and

enhance dough yield, firmness, and texture. Starch, fiber, and protein derived from

pulses are manufac-tured using a

fractionation process and are used to enhance

the nutrition of products and provide water binding,

thickening, emulsifying, and fat absorption functions, among others.Having discovered both the nutri-

tional benefits and functional attributes of pulses, many product developers are formulating with the ingredients to

create commercialized products sold around the world. “Comprised of natural dietary fiber—both soluble and insolu-ble—as well as resistant starch and high-quality protein, they offer a health profile that is hard to match,” says Hunter. “As a result, specialty and com-mercial bakers and pasta processors, among others, are looking to pulses and their derivatives as a means for meeting consumer demand while securing a por-tion of a functional food market that is expected to further grow.” Pulses can also help differentiate products. “We’re seeing increasing interest in the use of bean and pulse ingredients in bakery and snacks, as formulators look to differenti-ate their products with whole-food ingredients,” says Rueda. “One of the most exciting opportunities for beans and

pulses is the pasta category, where the natural colors of beans give the pastas unique visual appeal while also offering consumers a product that meets their demands for nutrition.” Regarding the use of pulse ingredients in pasta, the mill-ing technology, protein content, and drying regime of the pulse ingredient can factor into the overall quality of the pasta product. While incorporating yellow pea flours into spaghetti formulations can create spaghetti products with quality attributes similar to 100% durum spa-ghetti, the highest quality pulse/durum flour blend will consist of roller milled, fine or coarse split pea flours of medium protein content, according to information from Pulse Canada.

Whether whole, pureed, as flour, or in isolated protein or starch forms, pulses

Research Roundup

Food product developers are not the only ones exploring the functionalities of pulses. Researchers across academia

are also taking new looks at the potential of pulses. Here are a few studies on the poten-tial applications of pulses and pulse-derived ingredients.

• The linoleic acid and linolenic acid con-tents of lentil and chickpea flours make them susceptible to oxidation resulting in the development of off-flavors. Shariati-Ievari et al. (2016) found that chickpea and green lentil flours that underwent infrared microni-zation treatments contributed to the physicochemical properties and consumer acceptability of burgers made with the flours.

• Some types of dry beans are fast-cook-ing, taking less time to cook before becoming palatable. Wiesinger et al. (2016) found that fast-cooking beans retained more nutrients and had better iron bioavailability than slow-cooking varieties.

• Gluten-free precooked pasta made from a 2 to 1 blend of rice flour and yellow pea flour was found to have an improved nutritional profile and adequate quality properties, making it ideal for consumers with celiac disease and convenient because of its short preparation time without cook-ing, according to a study published in the Journal of Food Science (Bouasla et al. 2016).

• Pulses like red beans, navy beans, dried peas, and chickpeas and the ingredi-ents derived from them are typically used in recipes and commercialized food products. Underutilized ones such as rice bean, winged bean, and marama bean are gener-ating interest among researchers who look to explore their nutritional benefits and their potential for higher yields. One study exam-ined the rice bean, which comes from a plant that grows in tropical climates, often in poor soil conditions, and found it to be a rich source of protein, amino acids, vitamins, and

minerals (Rajan 2013).• Eating protein-rich meals based on

beans and peas may help increase the feel-ing of fullness better than protein-rich meals based on pork and veal (Kristensen et al. 2016).

• In a review article on current studies about pulse protein hydrolysates and bioac-tive peptides (amino acid sequences derived from food proteins), López-Barrios et al. (2014) found that these components can be obtained from pulses to develop new pro-tein-derived ingredients. The researchers point out that published studies found that pulse-derived hydrolysates and bioactive peptides show promise as ingredients in functional foods and that they can be formu-lated in tortillas and snacks to improve functionality and nutritional quality. Two areas of work that continue are finding ways to improve the bioavailability of the bioac-tive peptides and to mask the bitter taste of the protein hydrolysates.

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The Power of Pulses continued...

Vegetables 26%

Soup 6%

Savory Spreads 6%

Ready Meals 4%

Savory/Salty Snacks 10%

Vegetables 22%

Soup 6%

Savory Spreads 4%

Savory/Salty Snacks 6%

Snack Nuts & Seeds 5%

Source: Innova Market Insights. Images © Top Photo Group/Top Photo Group/Thinkstock, © djvstock/iStock/Thinkstock, © Labzazuza/iStock/Thinkstock , © ShowVectorStudio/iStock/Thinkstock, © olegtoka/iStock/Thinkstock, © igorshi/iStock/Thinkstock

Product Launches Containing PulsesGlobal MarketsGlobal launches of products containing pulses have increased by 3% in 2016 from 2015, as tracked by Innova Market Insights. These are the leading market categories for new product launches with pulses in 2016 and the percent of launches each category accounts for.

U.S. MarketFor the U.S. market, there was a 12% increase in new product launches containing pulses in 2015 from 2014, with a further 6% increase evident in 2016 from 2015, according to Innova Market Insights. These are the leading market categories for new product launches with pulses in 2016 and the percent of launches each category accounts for.

can be used to help product developers achieve the flavor, texture, and nutri-tional needs in pretty much any application, says Hunter. Take pulse flours, for example. “In addition to enriching a product’s fiber and protein content, other benefits of incorporating pea and lentil flour include a pleasant light-golden appearance, and positive blending and mixing attributes,” she adds. “Precooked pulse flours supply superb stability, comparable to that of wheat flour, and there is lower risk of microbial growth.”

Along with pulse flours, pulse pro-teins are used in baked and extruded snacks, pasta, baked goods, bars, batter, and breading along with high-moisture applications like soups, sauces, and dressings, says O’Brien. Formulating with these and other pulse ingredients not only allows for products to be posi-tioned as clean label, gluten-free, non-GM, grain-free, or having added protein or fiber, but also achieves cost savings by reducing eggs and provides functions such as emulsification, water-holding, and adhesion, he adds. In bakery products, pulse protein has excellent water-holding capacity and provides structure when replacing gluten while pulse fiber can help reduce breakage and enhance dough yield in place of gums. Pea ingredients such as starch, flour, and fiber can function in batter and breading applications, where they can meet clean label standards and provide gluten-free options. Depending on the application,

certain pea ingredients will have better results in terms of batter viscosity, batter pick-up, and texture than others, accord-ing to information from the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council. Pulse ingredients also function in meat products such as lun-cheon meat, sausage, burgers, and meatballs, where they form gels, emul-sify, and bind water. In vegetarian and vegan meat alternative products, pulse flour or protein concentrates, protein isolates, or a blend can be used. One pulse ingredient in particular has poten-tial to stand in for soy protein, which is the protein ingredient typically used in those products. Pea protein has been shown to have texturizing properties that are similar to soy protein and better oil and water absorption qualities, accord-ing to information from the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.

With an extensive range of pulse ingredients available, product developers have a lot to consider in their formulation efforts. “The choice of the type of pulse to use in a product developer’s formula-tion really depends on preference,” says O’Brien. “In our experience, we have seen label declaration, functionality, fla-vor profile, color, and textural benefits all factor into the decision.”

Bakers, for instance, will use pulse flours because they are a natural, more economical and nutritious alternative to gums, says Hunter. Functional compo-nents derived from peas are also being explored for their potential benefits to bakery applications (and more). “Pea

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When used in baking applications, chickpea flour can increase water absorption, which increases dough yield and viscosity. In addition to flour, chickpeas are processed into protein, fiber, purees, and starch. © Jef_M/iStock/Thinkstock

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The Power of Pulses continued...fiber fortifications not only enhance dough yield, they can also modify texture, create a full-bodied mouthfeel, improve uniformity and consistency, and reduce product breakage. Pea fiber’s high water-binding capacity, fat absorption, and dough conditioning properties also contribute to making pea fiber perfect for many baked prod-ucts, especially low-fat or color-sensitive applications. By increasing water absorption and easily substituting partial or an entire wheat flour in baked foods like cakes, cookies, and muf-fins, pea flour makes possible the development of products with [an] excellent source of fiber claim.” There’s also a proprietary process for producing insoluble pea fiber from the plant’s cotyledon (the rudimentary leaf of the embryo of a seed plant) that is comprised of 70% fiber and has emulsifying and gelling properties, she says. This insoluble pea fiber can enhance the nutri-tion and improve crispness, loaf volume, and appearance of many types of bakery products.

A Bevy of Pulse IngredientsIngredient manufacturers specializing in pulses

Pulse ingredients provide texturizing properties to bar applications. They are also popular clean label ingredients, appealing to health-conscious consumers. © kreinick/iStock/Thinkstock

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continue to develop new and novel pulse-based ingredients, all to address the formulation needs of product developers. Ingredion, along with AGT Food & Ingredients, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (agtfoods.com), offers HOMECRAFT pulse flours and VITESSENCE pulse protein concentrates derived from peas, lentils, faba beans, and chickpeas grown in the United States and Canada. (Ingredion is the exclusive distributor of the pulse ingredients manu-factured by AGT Food & Ingredients.) “The pulse ingredients are fine-pow-dered materials created from the fractions of high-quality peas, lentils, faba beans, and chickpeas made without the use of processing aids or chemical compounds through a mechanical pro-cess,” says O’Brien.

Use the novel pulse flours to add dis-tinction to products or replace wheat flour to create gluten-free products. The companies promote the HOMECRAFT pulse flours as healthier types of flours, saying that they contain almost twice as much protein as cereal grains and high amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber and resistant starch. The VITESSENCE pulse protein concentrates contain any-where from 55% to 60% protein and are positioned as vegetarian ingredients and replacements for allergens such as egg and dairy. They can even be used to

replace whole eggs or egg whites in pasta and bakery products. “The choice of using a flour or a protein concentrate really depends on the target of the prod-uct developer,” says O’Brien. “For instance, if the product developer is look-ing to increase protein, we might suggest a VITESSENCE pulse protein. Or, if they are looking to improve texture in their gluten-free baked good, we may suggest a HOMECRAFT pulse flour.”

Another pulse protein ingredient, PurisPea pea protein isolate derived from dry, split peas, comes courtesy of Cargill, Minneapolis, Minn. (cargill.com). The ingredient delivers 80% protein and has a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score of .82 meaning that product devel-opers and bakers can add protein by using the ingredient without sacrificing a qual-ity eating experience, says Bill Gilbert, certified master baker and principal food technologist at Cargill. He adds that PurisPea does not have a bitter pea flavor because it is processed using wet extrac-tion but that it does tend to have less water-binding capacity compared to soy proteins. Formulating with the pea protein isolate will mean that product developers need to tweak their formulas. “All proteins require formula adjustments,” says Gilbert. “In bakery products, we recom-mend replacing one-to-one with flour first before making water adjustments for

rheology or viscosity. Cargill has designed many prototypes featuring PurisPea and in many cases, the solution is using a blend of proteins to deliver the desired protein claim without impacting flavor and performance.”

Other forms of pulse ingredients, each with specific functions, are avail-able from Healthy Food Ingredients. For example, the company’s precooked flakes and grits go beyond just a basic raw flour and allow food manufacturers to easily incorporate pulses into products while still maintaining functionality, says Tesch. “Depending on the application, we can offer and recommend a raw, pre-cooked, or pregelatinized flour, precooked flake, or raw or precooked grit that will incorporate well into a finished product while still maintaining the intended functionality and benefits of added protein, fiber, etc. We partner with our customers in their product develop-ment stage so we can learn how they

Flavors Complement Pulse Slider

On-trend food and beverage product concepts developed for the 2016 David Michael Innovation Roadshow gave David Michael &

Co., Philadelphia, Pa. (dmflavors.com), the opportu-nity to show how ingredients like its flavors can enhance products that appeal to today’s consum-ers. Take the vegetarian pulse slider with cucumber raita dipping sauce, where the mild earthy flavor of green peas, yellow peas, and lentils is layered with a smoked type onion, roasted garlic, and green chili flavors. This pulse-based “burger,” which is also formulated with a rice blend, spices, onions, garlic, and mushrooms, is a perfect example for foodser-vice operators and food manufacturers looking to develop flavorful products made with pulses.

Traditional pasta is not a protein- and fiber-rich food product. The addition of chickpeas, green and red lentils, and different types of beans in the formulation changes this by contributing plant-based protein and dietary fiber. © Ryzhkov/iStock/Thinkstock

Photo courtesy of David Michael & Co./IFF

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The Power of Pulses continued...

would be incorporating/using a flour, flake, or grit in their product. For example, if the product will not be further cooked during the customer’s process, we would recommend our pregel flour as an excel-lent fit in that scenario as the starches are fully cooked going into the product.” The company’s food scientists are even working on formulations to give a twist to AncientGrisps, milled and extruded crispy ancient grain inclusions, by developing a variety made from pulses, she adds.

Keeping the Beany Taste at BayPulse ingredients offer plenty of

beneficial functions and a slew of nutri-ents that help improve food and beverage products. There is one characteristic of pulse ingredients though that may cause manufacturers to shy away from consid-ering them in their formulation efforts: the beany flavor profile that they can con-tribute to some finished products.

“In certain applications this flavor profile may be desired while in other applications product developers may prefer a blander flavor profile,” says O’Brien. For use in those applications where a cleaner taste is required, Ingredion and AGT Foods developed a range of clean taste pulse ingredients under the VITESSENCE Pulse CT and HOMECRAFT Pulse CT brand names. “The clean taste pulse ingredients allow prod-uct developers a bland flavor profile for easier incorporation into applications in which flavor has been an issue when try-ing to formulate with pulse ingredients,” says O’Brien. He adds that a proprietary technology used to develop the ingredi-ents, which made their debut last year, helps to improve the flavor profile while maintaining the clean label positioning of the pulse ingredients.

Four ingredients make up the clean taste pulse ingredient line. The VITESSENCE Pulse CT pea protein con-centrate and faba bean protein concentrate contain 55%–60% protein on a dry basis while the HOMECRAFT Pulse CT pea flour and lentil flour are glu-ten-free and contribute protein and fiber to bakery products and numerous other applications. The companies also posi-tion the ingredients as clean label and made from ingredients that are not genet-ically modified. Use these neutral-tasting, plant-based proteins in puddings, cheeses, yogurts, smoothies, pastas, snacks, and cereals.

ADM manufactures the VegeFull line of cooked, dehydrated bean ingredients to help product developers overcome the beany taste that’s often detectable when pulse ingredients are used at higher inclusion levels, says Rueda. “These ingredients offer a superior nutritional profile—high protein and fiber in one whole-food ingredient— while being very palate neutral. They can be incorpo-rated into virtually any food or beverage

application, and we’re seeing a lot of interest in bakery and snack applications as formulators look to reduce sugar and clean up their labels by using whole food ingredients.” The VegeFull bean ingredi-ents consist of pinto beans, black beans, small red beans, navy beans, and chick-peas and come in formats such as quick-prep whole, grit, meal, and powder.

Pulses truly are the plant-based ingre-dient to watch for the reasons outlined in this article. As Hunter fittingly states: “Thanks in part to the International Year of Pulses in 2016—which helped position pulses as a health staple for consum-ers—chickpeas, beans, lentils, and dry peas have earned a well-deserved repu-tation as superfoods consumers will continue to seek out for years to come both as a pantry staple and an ingredient in packaged foods.” FT

Next month’s Ingredients section will cover ingredients used in fruit and vegeta-ble beverages.

Patent for Developing Non-Soy Legume ‘Milk’

Protein as an ingredient continues to grow in popularity. Meat, fish, and dairy are tradi-tional sources of protein, but they can be

expensive, subject to supply issues, and may not be accepted by consumers following vege-tarian and vegan diets. That’s why researchers are looking to plants like legumes for suitable options to replace traditional protein sources.

General Mills is experimenting with turning non-soy legumes such as chickpeas, faba beans, adzuki beans, and red lentils into a “liq-uefied legume material” to be used as a legume “milk,” as a nondairy substitute in products like cheese or yogurt, and as an egg substitute in mayonnaise and dressings, according to a pat-ent published last October (Gugger et al. 2016). In the patent, the company explains that pro-ducing the material begins by hydrating high-starch legumes, removing excess water, and heating the remaining hydrated legumes in water and amylase at a controlled pH to reduce the starch content of the legumes. The result-ing slurry can be filtered to remove insoluble fiber and suspended soluble fiber to produce what the researchers call a nondairy “milk.” “This nondairy substitute can be used in place of, or in addition to, dairy ingredients tradition-ally incorporated into consumable products,” write the researchers. They also mention that the nondairy “milk” can be cultured with bacte-rial culture to form a legume-based cheese or yogurt and can be combined with a lipid to form a stable emulsion for use in formulating oil-based salad dressings and mayonnaise.

New Facility to Increase Pea Protein Supply

Knowing that the demand for plant proteins shows no sign of slowing down, Roquette,

Lestrem, France (roquette.com), plans to build a new pea protein manufacturing site in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. Edouard Roquette, the company’s chairman, said in the press state-ment that the new plant “will be the largest dedicated to pea pro-tein processing in the world to date” (Roquette 2017). As noted in the statement, the company decided to build the facility in Canada because the country is the world’s largest producer of peas with about 30% of the total global production. Construction on the facility is expected to begin in the second half of 2017, and produc-tion of pea protein ingredients at the site is planned to begin in 2019.

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R E F E R E N C E S

Bouasla, A., A. Wójtowicz, M. N. Zidoune, et al. 2016. “Gluten-Free Precooked Rice-Yellow Pea Pasta: Effect of Extrusion-Cooking Conditions on Phenolic Acids Composition, Selected Properties and Microstructure.” J. Food Sci. 81(5): 1070–1079.

Gugger, E. T., P. Galuska, and A. Tremaine. 2016. Legume-based dairy substitute and consumable food products incorporating same. U.S. patent 15/136,556.

Katoch, R. 2013. “Nutritional Potential of Rice Bean (Vigna Umbellata): An Underutilized Legume.” J. Food Sci. 78(1): 8–16.

Kristensen, M. D., N. T. Bendsen, S. M. Christensen, A. Astrup, and A. Raben. 2016. “Meals Based on Vegetable Protein Sources (Beans and Peas) are More Satiating than Meals Based on Animal Protein Sources (Veal and Pork)—A Randomized Cross-over Meal Test Study.” Food Nutr. Res. 60(1): 32634. López-Barrios, L., J. A. Gutiérrez-Uribe, and S. O. Serna-Saldívar. 2014. “Bioactive Peptides and Hydrolysates from Pulses and Their Potential Use as Functional Ingredients.” J. Food Sci. 79(3): 273–283.

Roquette. 2017. “Roquette to Build the Largest Pea Protein Processing Facility to Date for Food, Nutrition and Health Markets.” Press release, Jan. 18. Roquette, Lestrem, France. roquette.com.

Shariati-Ievari, S., D. Ryland, A. Edel, T. Nicholson, M. Suh, and M. Aliani. 2016. “Sensory and Physicochemical Studies of Thermally Micronized Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Green Lentil (Lens culinaris) Flours as Binders in Low-Fat Beef Burgers. J. Food Sci. 81(5): 1230–1242.

Wiesinger, J. A., K. A. Cichy, P. Raymond, et al. 2016. “Demonstrating a Nutritional Advantage to the Fast-Cooking Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).” J. Agric. Food Chem. 64(45): 8 592–8603.

Video Viewing GuideWatch videos in which Tim McGreevy, chief executive officer at USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, and Igor Playner, vice president of innovation and strategy at Ingredion, offer more insights on pulse ingredients. Another video shows a Cooking Up Science demonstration where both traditional and innovative food concepts are made with pulses. Visit news.ift.org/videos and click on “Pulses at IFT16 Food Expo” and “IFT16 Cooking Up Science: Pulse Canada.”

www.ift.org Members Only: Read more about pulses at ift.org. Type the keyword

into the search box at the upper right side of the home page.

Karen Nachay, Senior Associate Editor • knachay@ift.org