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Pulse Ingredients 101

by Jane Dummer, RD

What are pulses and pulse ingredients?

Consumers are scanning the nutritional content of their foods, looking for the inclusion of healthy ingredients in products. Enter homegrown pulses and pulse ingredients. These nitrogen-fixing Canadian crops have shown big potential while having a low carbon footprint, helping to curb greenhouse gas emissions. They include peas, lentils, chickpeas, faba beans and dry beans, but not fresh peas and beans, as the term “pulse” only refers to the dried seed.

Pulses come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. We can eat them in many forms including whole or split, or in food products after they’re ground into flours or converted into ingredients such as protein, fibre and starch. Canada is one of the largest pulse producers in the world. As the largest exporter, 80 per cent of Canadian-grown pulses are shipped worldwide.

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Steps to produce useful pulse ingredients

Are you wondering how whole pulse is turned into useful ingredients like flour? Let’s explore the steps.

Cleaning and sorting

  • After leaving the farm, all pulses are cleaned and sorted by size and colour before being packaged or converted into ingredients like flour, protein or fibre.

Dehulling

  • The hull is the skin/seed coat on the outside of the seed. The cleaned seed goes through a mill, causing the skin/seed coat to fall off and the seed to split in half. They become dehulled pulses and split pulses. Then they can be packaged and sold as is or they can be further milled into flour.

Noteworthy fact:

  • The hull from pulses is almost entirely made up of fibre and can be ground into a high-fibre powder, resulting in an ingredient that increases the fibre content of foods. 

Pulse flours

  • Pulse seeds (with or without the hull) can be milled or ground into a pulse flour. This is a similar process to how whole wheat or whole grain flours are created.

Noteworthy fact:

  • Unlike white and whole wheat flours, whole and dehulled pulse flours still contain high levels of protein and fibre, retaining the nutritional density in both forms.

Pulse proteins and starches

Pulse seeds can also be separated (dry or wet) into ingredients made from their protein and starch components.

Dry separation

  • This occurs when the pulse flour is exposed to an air stream that causes the smaller and lighter protein particles to separate from the larger and more dense particles of starch and fibre.
  • This protein ingredient is typically called a protein concentrate and the starch is a starch-rich flour.

Wet separation

  • This occurs when the pulse seed is ground in water and the pH of the water is adjusted to cause the protein to be separated from starch and fibre.
  • The protein and starch ingredients are typically called isolates.
  • The fibre ingredient that comes from the internal part of the seed is referred to as inner fibre.

Pulse ingredients benefits

Pulse ingredients check many boxes when it comes to nutrition, including protein, fibre and micronutrients like iron, magnesium and folate. There is a continued demand for free-from and plant-based retail products, including gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and egg-free. Pulses and pulse ingredients meet these consumer demands.

Sustainability is another benefit of pulse ingredients. Pulse crops do not need nitrogen fertilizer because they have a unique ability to take nitrogen from the air and add it into the soil, giving them a low carbon footprint.

The term “clean label” has become popular over the past few years. Ultimately, consumers want an ingredient list with simple, nutritious, homegrown ingredients like pulses.

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Five specific pulse ingredients

Let’s dive into five specific pulse ingredients: pea protein, pea starch, pea fibre, lentil flour and faba bean protein. All of these enhance nutrition, support sustainability and provide consumers with simple, healthy, homegrown ingredients.

Pea protein

  • Pea protein is a nutritious, high-quality plant-based ingredient used to improve protein quality in products. Pea protein can also provide an effect that mimics the texture of meat. It’s an alternative to soy and animal-based proteins. The food product categories innovating with pea protein include meat alternatives, snack bars and nutritional beverages.
  • Product examples:

Pea starch

  • Pea starch provides a high-quality, slow-digesting carbohydrate that is an alternative to traditional starches like wheat for gluten-free products. Heathy for us, healthy for our pets. Pea starch is not only used in snack bars and bakery for us, but it is used in the pet food category.
  • Product example:

Pea fibre

  • Pea fibre provides a fibre boost for products, but can also add a crispy, crunchy texture. It’s especially useful in adding nutrition to gluten-free options and is a clean label ingredient. Again, heathy for us, healthy for our pets. Pea fibre is used for us in both bakery and breading/coating systems for meat and poultry products, and also in pet food and treats.
  • Product examples:

Lentil flour

  • Lentil flour improves the protein and fibre in numerous products, especially gluten-free options. It provides a clean label option in baby food, pasta, snack foods and in breading and coating systems. Lentil flour blends well with other cereal grains, including oats. Popular in the baby food category, it improves protein quality while providing a porridge-like texture. Pastas can be formulated with up to 100 per cent lentil flour and blended with other pulse ingredients.
  • Product examples:

Faba bean protein

  • Faba bean protein is a nutritious ingredient because of its protein quality. It enhances the protein content of many plant-based products and is an alternative to soy and animal-based proteins. It has a mild flavour that blends well with other ingredients. Faba bean protein is often used in snacks, meat alternatives and beverages.
  • Product examples:

The power of pulse ingredients

Simple steps turn homegrown, nutritious, sustainable whole pulses into useful ingredients for clean label food options. From increasing fibre and protein content to improving texture and taste, especially in plant-based and gluten-free products, various pulse ingredients are meeting consumer demand for healthy, sustainable, clean label additions to our (and our pets’) favourite foods.

Jane Dummer

Jane is a Registered Dietitian and respected thought leader in the food industry. She works with medium to large food & beverage companies across North America – and is a frequent guest and commentator in the media. She is the author of The Need for Seeds: How to Make Seeds an Everyday Food in Your Healthy Diet and known as the Pod to Plate food expert.

Contributor PostsJane Dummer