Finger on the Pulses

One of the most consistent messages when it comes to creating a better food system is to increase our consumption of pulses and beans. Why? Well, they are one of very few foods that have a host of significant health and environmental benefits, with very little in the way of downsides.

From an environmental standpoint, pulses and beans are probably the most efficient way of producing good quality protein on a relatively small amount of land. If you want to produce 100g of dietary protein per year from peas you will need 3.4 meters squared of land. Grains need about a 35% larger area, chicken requires over twice as much, and for beef, it is more like fifty times. (LINK).

Beans and pulses are also nitrogen fixing crops, which means that they capture nitrogen from the air rather than needing it to be added into the soil as artificial fertiliser. As nitrogen fertiliser production is extremely energy intensive, this means that they have a far lower carbon footprint than other crops. They also enrich the soil with nitrogen for the next crop, making them excellent to grow in rotation with staples like wheat and corn. Even better, they are also flowering plants, so great for insects and biodiversity.

From a health perspective, there is also pretty universal agreement that beans and pulses are nutrition powerhouses. They are low in fat, high in protein, high in fibre, and a useful source of micronutrients such as iron, potassium and folate. When it comes to creating nutrient dense, nutritious foods, pulses and beans have it all.

The only real problem is a culinary one. Although they can be delicious, it is hard to persuade people to eat beans every day, especially when things like chicken, burgers and cheese and exist. Of course, beans and pulses are contained in several tasty, popular and convenient foods like baked beans and humous, and there are loads of extraordinary bean rich dishes from cuisines across the world, such as dahls, feijoada, ful medames and falafel. But in reality, the main problem with beans and pulses is that they are…well, beans and pulses.

But it is possible to make beans and pulses into flours, potentially opening the door to healthier and more sustainable alternatives that are a bit less beany. From a nutrition perspective, this can be a big positive. The average pulse flour has more than twice as much protein as wheat and usually contains more fibre. With the sustainability advantages, it feels like pulse flours are a golden ticket to better bread.

Of course, pulse flours and wheat flour are functionally very different. Pulse flours have more flavour and are often different colours. Chickpea flour is golden, lentil flours can be all shades of red and brown, pea flours are usually yellow or green. All have specific flavours and come with a range of properties, often far removed from that of wheat. But with a little understanding and some creativity, there is room for pulse flours in a variety of bakery applications, especially with new varieties and processing addressing many of the flavour concerns of the past. Whether it is enriching a wheat-based bread, replacing eggs, or creating novel gluten-free formulations, pulse flours can deliver a range of benefits to any product developer. 

Chickpea flour is a great start point for many applications, good at binding water, especially in liquid doughs and batters. It is a strong emulsifier, useful as an egg replacer and its natural golden colour works well in many formulations. If something with less colour is required, then it is worth finding a gram flour, which is similar to chickpea but made from split chickpeas, also known as chana dal. Gram flours tend to be finer, softer and milder in flavour. And for a non-chickpea alternative with similar functionality, red lentil flour is also good at binding, emulsifying and gelling in a liquid matrix and equally useful as an egg replacer. 

In a more dough like, less liquid matrix, green pea or brown lentil flours are good at binding and are potentially useful for gluten and egg replacement. Fava bean flour is more neutral in colour and a strong emulsifier but is less good for creating structure or as a gluten replacement. Soya flour is useful for improving and crumb structure, and enzyme active soya flour can be used to whiten bread because of the presence of lipoxygenase enzyme. Both fava and soya flours can also help bind moisture, helping keep bread soft over life.

It is also worth seeking out traditional bread and baked good recipes utilising the natural properties of pulse flours. Socca in Italy and Southern France, Pudla and Dhebra from India, Eftazymo from Greece, Karan from Niger and Injera* from Ethiopia all utilise pulse flours in traditional recipes. As with many foods, traditional applications often hold the key to unlocking the properties, flavours and textures of interesting ingredients.

Pulses are magical in many ways, providing almost unmatched nutrition, sustainability and functionality, potentially opening the door to many delicious, healthy and innovative new products. Although they might seem novel as we try to incorporate them into bakery formulations, in reality they have been used for centuries across a range of cuisines. They are a significant part of our culinary past, and there is every reason to believe that they will also play an important role in our food future.

*Although Injera is primarily made with teff, an indigenous grain, in many recipes this is combined with cowpea, adzuki bean or fava bean flour.