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Review
. 2025 Mar 26;14(7):1151.
doi: 10.3390/foods14071151.

Pulse Proteins: Processing, Nutrition, and Functionality in Foods

Valeria Messina  1 , Daniel J Skylas  2 , Thomas H Roberts  1 , Peter Valtchev  1 , Chris Whiteway  2 , Ziqi Li  3 , Andreas Hopf  3 , Fariba Dehghani  3 , Ken J Quail  2 , Brent N Kaiser  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Pulse Proteins: Processing, Nutrition, and Functionality in Foods

Valeria Messina et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Pulses are grown worldwide and provide agronomic benefits that contribute to the sustainability of cropping systems. Pulses are high in protein and provide a good source of carbohydrates, dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive constituents. Crops such as lupins, chickpeas, faba beans, field peas, lentils, and mung beans, and the diversity of varieties among them, provide enormous opportunities for processing protein ingredients for use in new and existing food formulations. This review highlights the nutritional properties of pulses, protein quality, functionality, and applications for pulse protein ingredients. Understanding the functionality of pulse proteins, and the unique properties between different pulses in terms of solubility, water- and oil-holding capacity, emulsification, gelation, and foaming properties, will help maximise their use in plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, beverages, bakery products, noodles, pasta, and nutritional supplements. In this review, researchers, food technologists, and food manufacturers are provided with a comprehensive resource on pulses, and the diverse applications for pulse protein ingredients within the context of food manufacturing and the constantly evolving food technology landscape.

Keywords: food processing; functionality; protein ingredients; pulses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pulse processing value chain and value-added opportunities for maximising the use of pulses and their ingredients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Processing techniques used to remove or modify off-flavours in pulses (Adapted from [70]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The main stages of the dry fractionation process are highlighted for the Australian faba bean, including (1) seed pretreatment (dehulling and splitting), (2) impact classifier milling, and (3) air classification for separation of coarse and fine fractions (Adapted from [36]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of isoelectric precipitation, ultrafiltration, and micellisation techniques commonly used to extract protein isolates from pulses (Adapted from Gunes & Karaca, 2022 [112]; Kornet et al., 2021 [114]).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Current status, limitations, and future development of pulse proteins for food applications.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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