Editorial

Abstract

At the beginning of 2020, the whole world was paralyzed with a rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus that resulted in declaring it a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The whole world has been impacted, with a tragic human toll of more than 3.5 million victims. The pandemic has shut down many research institutions completely, and most of the institutes have not resumed work yet or are working partially with limited manpower following the mandate on social distancing due to the pandemic. Conversely, the unprecedented hard work and dedication of scientists has brought a ray of hope to mankind by developing Covid-19 vaccines in a record-breaking time. Legume Science salutes those scientists for the discovery and sympathizes with those who lost their loved ones in this pandemic. The on-going pandemic has made an impact on scientists at all stages in their careers; however, early-career researchers (ECRs), including postdoctoral fellows and newly recruited faculty are particularly vulnerable during these unprecedented times. In this lockdown situation, Legume Science floated the idea of an open research paper competition for the ECRs in the area of Legumes Processing and Quality. The publisher (John Wiley & Sons) generously agreed to grant a full waiver (equaling USD 2700) for the nine best papers selected in the competition. It is my pleasure to share those nine papers in this special issue, which is dedicated to those researchers who maintained their strengths and scientific dedication during these extraordinary times by submitting their research works. A wide range of papers on processing and nutritional aspects of legumes have been selected by a panel of experts. The sole review paper focuses on the potential health benefits of garden pea seeds and pods. For the first time, 109 common bean genotypes collected from the Western Himalayas have been well characterized based on morphological traits. The impact of processing on phenolic profiles of four new mung bean lines and in vitro protein quality, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant potential of 10 selected pulses are reported in two papers. In a separate paper, quality characteristics, fatty acid profiles, and glycemic indexes of extrusion processed snacks enriched with the multicomponent mixture of cereals and legumes are emphasized. The use of nonthermal processing on legumes has been described in two papers; one reports on the impact of plasma technology on chickpea soaking and quality, and the other presents results of the dielectric heating-assisted disinfestation of black gram. One of the ECRs investigated the encapsulation of gallic acid in pea flour wall matrix followed by synthesis of nanofibers by an electrospinning process. The results from this particular research have potential applications in active food packaging. Finally, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all the authors, reviewers, the publisher, and the support rendered by the Legume Science team in bringing out the special issue on early-career researchers in time. We hope for a ray of hope for the global community in the days to come.