Utilizing Hydrothermal Processing to Align Structure and In Vitro Digestion Kinetics between Three Different Pulse...

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Nutritional Science
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Food processing significantly alters the structural architecture of pulses.
• Pulse digestion is influenced by intrinsic matrix properties and extrinsic processing-induced changes.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for optimizing pulse utilization in food products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the combined effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on pulse structural changes during processing.
• To analyze the impact of these changes on starch and protein digestion kinetics.
• To evaluate the role of residual hardness as a key structural parameter in pulses.

Main Methods:

• Selected chickpea, pea, and black bean for hydrothermal processing.
• Assessed starch and protein digestion kinetics of whole pulses and isolated cotyledon cells.
• Measured microstructural and physicochemical characteristics, including residual hardness.
• Compared digestion behavior across different pulse types and processing extents.

Main Results:

• Hydrothermal processing led to similar residual hardness (40 N) across different pulses despite varying processing times.
• Equivalent microstructural properties in isolated cotyledon cells resulted in similar starch and protein digestion kinetics.
• Digestive behavior of isolated cotyledon cells accurately represented that of whole pulses.

Conclusions:

• Residual hardness is a reliable food structuring parameter for pulses.
• Isolated cotyledon cell digestion reflects whole pulse behavior, simplifying future research.
• Hydrothermally processed pulses can be effectively incorporated as food ingredients.