Pulses are important components of human diet and are considered recognized sources of non-gluten protein, slowly-digestible starch and dietary fiber in addition to a diverse array of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and carotenoids. On the other hand, they contain anti-nutritional compounds such as raffinose family oligosaccharides which cause flatus production in humans. In the current study, three common pulses (lentil, faba bean and peas) were used to investigate the effect of various heating technologies, e.g. boiling, microwave, pressure and slow cooking in three solutions (water, salt and sugar) on the removal of flatus oligosaccharides. The pulses were soaked in water prior to cooking as a common practice in preparing pulses for consumption. The main three flatus-producing oligosaccharides in pulses (raffinose, staychose and verbascose) were separated and quantified based on HPLC analysis in raw and cooked pulses. In raw pulses, staychose was present at the highest concentration in peas (25.0 mg/g) followed by lentil (21.3 mg/g) and faba bean (7.7 mg/g). Verbascose came second at 15.4, 11.7 and 19.1 mg/g and lastly raffinose at 7.1, 2.0 and 2.0 mg/g in peas, lentil and faba bean, respectively. Slow cooking of faba bean or peas significantly reduced flatus oligosaccharides in cooked pulses with water and salt solutions being more effective compared to sugar solution. For lentil, blanching in boiling water for 1 min and holding the boiled seeds covered for 10 min was significantly effective in reducing flatus oligosaccharides with slight differences among the 3 solutions. Overall the results indicate that slow cooking of faba bean or peas in salt solution is more effective compared to the other three methods in reducing staychose, verbascose and raffinose, without compromising quality of pulses, while blanching process is more effective for lentil.

Changes in flatus producing oligosaccharides in pulses cooked with various heating technologies and cooking solutions

256th National Meeting (2018)

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