Development of an extruded snack product from the legume Vicia faba minor

Abstract

Legumes offer a rich source of proteins as well as benefiting the soil fertility by fixing nitrogen. Vicia faba var. minor, or tick or faba beans as they are commonly called, are a legume species that have a variety of application in animal feeds but are rarely found in food products. Currently, the crop is mainly used for animal feed and as a break crop to disrupt disease cycles, typically in small grain cereal monoculture. The seeds from the crop are harvested dry but the crop typically has a relatively low value uses for a nutritionally valuable grain. The objective of this investigation was to produce an extruded snack product from faba beans that would be acceptable to consumers. We developed an experimental design to optimise the manufacturing conditions of a crisp expanded snack product from the finely milled seed. The snacks were manufactured on a small twin screw extruder (Clextral BC21). The physical properties of the snacks were altered by varying the screw speed, the particle size of the flour, presence or absence of the hull component of the beans and the variety of tick bean. The physical properties of the snacks were analysed using a SMS TaXT2+ texture analyser. Sensory analysis was conducted using a taste panel. The faba bean products were compared to commercially available snacks purchased from the supermarket. An extruded faba bean product was developed that had similar physical properties and a high level of consumer acceptance compared to the commercially available extruded corn snacks. The faba bean snacks contained more than three times the protein and four times the fibre of the extruded corn products. This product is considered to have good potential as a snack food and may assist with the development of a high value market for this potentially valuable crop.