Abstract
The traditional perception that legumes would not be suitable for extrusion cooking is now completely outdated. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have been conducted to assess the behavior of various types of legume flours in extrusion cooking, proving that legumes have excellent potential for the production of extruded ready-to-eat foods by partially or totally replacing cereals. This review identifies the optimal processing conditions for legume-based and legume-added extruded foods, which allow the improvement of the expansion ratio and give the extrudates the spongy and crisp structure expected by consumers. In particular, the effect of the individual processing parameters on the physical-chemical and nutritional properties of the final product is highlighted. The extrusion cooking process, indeed, has a positive effect on nutritional characteristics, because it induces important modifications on starch and proteins, enhancing their digestibility, and reduces the content of trypsin inhibitors, lectins, phytic acid, and tannins, typically present in legumes. Therefore, the extrusion of legume flours is a viable strategy to improve their nutritional features while reducing home preparation time, so as to increase the consumption of these sustainable crops.
Highlights
Why Consider Legumes for the Production of Extruded FoodsConsumer demand for ready-to-eat foods is increasing due to the time-saving needs of the modern lifestyle
The extrusion of legume flours is a viable strategy to improve their nutritional features while reducing home preparation time, so as to increase the consumption of these sustainable crops
Levels of up to 30% bean flour resulted in the best extrudates, as crispy as those obtained from maize starch alone but with better nutritional value [4]
Summary
Consumer demand for ready-to-eat foods is increasing due to the time-saving needs of the modern lifestyle. Instead, several studies have taken into account the incorporation of other legumes (such as bean, lentil, pea, chickpea, and faba bean) to improve the nutritional value of extruded foods. Nutrient dense extruded multi-legume bars, mixed with whey protein concentrate, honey and palm oil, have been proposed to mitigate malnutrition in developing countries [5,11]. Extrusion cooking technology is known to reduce the levels of some anti-nutrients contained contained in legumes [12] such as tannins [13], phytic acid [14], trypsin inhibitors and lectins [15]. Extrusion cooking is able to increase the digestibility of starch and proteins [16] This topic topic soon soon attracted attracted the the attention attention of of researchers, and their interest legume‐added foods. Declared 2016 as the “International Year of Pulses” [18]
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