• Beans
• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Peas
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Pulse Science Cluster

Objective

To identify sources of resistant or slowly digestible starch, to develop functional foods using such starches, and to understand their impact on the glycemic response using model systems.

Outcome

Starch is the primary source of calories in the human diet and is an important food ingredient. The link between how starch is digested and many chronic illnesses, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, has generated interest in developing healthy low glycemic index food products. Other health issues linked to starch digestion are gluten-intolerance and celiac disease. The objectives of this research project focused on understanding how to enhance or retain digestion resistant forms in cooked products derived from pulses. New low glycemic gluten-free pulse-based foods were formed through pulse variety selection and effective processing/modification to manipulate the starch structure. Canadian-grown pulse varieties were screened as sources of resistant starch and slowly digestible starch. A quick and efficient analytical method for screening new and specialty pulses was developed to determine the best candidates for food ingredients. By this method, pulse starches were identified that had potential to be a good fit within commercial food products. This included analyses of their chemical composition, granular and molecular structure, and functional and nutritional properties, as well as experimenting with them in extrusion cooking and other conventional processing technologies. Pulse flour was modified using single or combined enzymatic, chemical and physical means to enhance the amount of resistant starch and slowly digestible starch. Several pulse starch and flour candidates with different functionalities have been developed as food ingredients. During the five year period, a brand-new database of knowledge about Canadian-grown pulse starches was created, which will serve as an educational resource for the food processing industry. Completing the chain of knowledge from crop, to functional ingredient, to nutritional food product, we invented a gluten-free bread product with enhanced resistant starch and slowly digestible starch from Canadian pulse by adjusting the bread formula, roasting, and alginate encapsulation. The low glycemic index (GI) and gluten-free features of this bread will benefit consumers with diabetes and celiac disease, as well as the general population. An invention disclosure was filed on low GI and gluten-free pulse breads

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