Claire Chigwedere

and 2 more

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.