Sensory assessment of pressure-cooked and pureed pulses reveals
similarities for chickpea/yellow pea and dry bean/faba bean
Abstract
The dominance of pulses in plant-based protein foods necessitates an
investigation into their organoleptic properties. Taste, aroma, flavor,
and trigeminal attribute intensities of purees obtained from
pressure-cooked black bean, chickpea, faba bean, green lentil, pinto
bean, and yellow pea were assessed using a trained panel. All pulse
purees had similar dry matter content and relatively similar particle
size distribution profiles; thus, these factors would not influence the
intensities of the sensory attributes. The pulse-like attribute was
consistently rated highly across all the pulse purees. The black, pinto,
and faba bean purees mostly exhibited similar characteristics whilst
chickpea and yellow pea purees behaved similarly. For example, the dry
beans and faba bean purees had higher intensities for the bitter,
earthy, and metallic aromas and lower intensities for the green,
floury/starchy, sweet, and nutty aromas than those for the chickpea and
yellow pea purees. Interestingly, green lentil puree largely exhibited
intensities that were typical of dry bean purees. Some attributes were
perceived to be more intense when assessed as tastes than aromas or vice
versa. The same was also observed for attributes that were assessed as
both aroma and flavor. It was found that the sensitivity of the mode of
perception on the perceived intensity of an attribute may depend on the
type of pulse. The similarities in sensory profiles of the pulses can be
useful to first, the food industry to expand on ingredients in
formulations without drastic effects on the sensory quality and second,
the consumers who are neophobic.