Pulse Crops Association

Published purpose

This project will develop a database on pulse ingredient functionality with comparative rankings of common pulse ingredients (pea, fava bean, and lentil) relative to other common industry proteins (soy, whey, gluten and others) using standardized testing methods. Commercial samples will be sourced to span a range of processing techniques and configurations. The dataset will help to position pulse ingredients in the plant protein space in terms of their functional performance and expected variability resulting from different processing conditions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical barcoding will serve as a tool to identify relationships in chemical structure and the functional traits of the ingredients that vary as a result of applied processing. Flavour profiling of the ingredients will serve to characterize key compounds present in pulse ingredients and understand the influence of processing on the creation or degradation of these compounds.