Differences among pulse grains and cereal grains in dietary fiber (259.5)

Abstract

Pulses, i.e., dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas, and lentils, are grain legumes that serve as staple food crops for populations around the world. Since ancient times, pulses have been combined with cereal grains, primarily wheat, rice, or corn, or tubers such as potato or cassava to provide a balanced source of protein and carbohydrate and a nutritionally adequate diet when combined with seed oils, fruit and vegetables. In this setting, the established ratio of cereal grains to pulses to meet nutritional requirements is 2:1; however, over the last 60 years both production and consumption patterns, globally, have changed to 8:1. One consequence of these changes has been on a marked but largely unappreciated shift in dietary carbohydrate quality. This presentation focuses on differences among pulse crops in their amount and type of dietary fiber and how this relates to the amounts and types of dietary fiber provided by various cereal grains. Data will be reported using the AOAC 2011.25 Integrated Total Dietary Fiber Assay to quantify dietary fiber and oligosaccharide content. These data will be considered in the context of the pandemic of overweight and obesity that has swept the globe over the last 60 years since there has been virtually no scrutiny of the potential association between the decline in pulse consumption and the global rise in obesity and its associated metabolic disorders.Grant Funding Source: PHS R01‐ CA172375 and American Pulse Association