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| ISBN-13: | 9781782625674 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| Publication date: | 10/20/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 310 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
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Pulse Chemistry and Technology
By Brijesh K. Tiwari Narpinder Singh
The Royal Society of Chemistry
Copyright © 2012 Brijesh K. Tiwari and Narpinder SinghAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84973-331-1
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
1.1. IMPORTANCE OF PULSES
The word "pulse" is derived from the Greek word "poltos", which means porridge. Pulses are important crops, serving as an important source of nutrition for billions of people around the world. Pulses encompass those species of plants that belong to the Fabaceae (Leguminoseae) family and are consumed by human beings or domestic animals, commonly in the form of dry matter seeds, i.e. as grain legumes. A few oil-bearing seeds such as groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) and soybean (Glycine max) are also categorised as legume crops. However, these are grown primarily for processing into edible oil. Grain pulses are important foodstuffs in tropical and subtropical countries, where they are second in importance to cereals as a source of protein (20–25% protein by weight). Pulse grains are an excellent source of protein, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Much of the world's population relies on pulses as staple food, particularly in combination with cereals. Cereals, being deficient in lysine, are commonly consumed along with pulses, thus completing the dietary protein intake.
Pulses are the edible seeds of leguminous plants, which have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen via root nodules. Most of the economically important legumes belong to the subfamily Papilionoideae (Faboideae), which has about 700 genera and 18 000 species. although not all species are consumed by humans. The legumes used by humans are commonly called food legumes or grain legumes or pulses. A classification of pulses is given in Figure 1.1.
Pulses are defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as annual leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and colour within a pod. The terms "legumes" and "pulses" are used interchangeably because all pulses are considered legumes (although not all legumes are considered pulses). The term "pulse", as used by the FAO, is reserved for crops harvested solely for use as dry grains. This term therefore excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered as vegetable crops. The crops which are mainly grown for oil extraction (oilseeds like soybeans and peanuts), and those which are used exclusively for sowing (clovers, alfalfa) are also excluded from the term pulses. FAO recognises 11 primary pulses: (1) dry beans; (2) dry broad beans; (3) dry peas; (4) chickpea; (5) dry cowpea; (6) pigeon pea; (7) lentil; (8) bambara groundnut; (9) vetch; (10) lupins and (11) minor pulses. Some of the commonly grown and consumed pulses are show in Figure 1.2.
1.2 TRENDS IN PULSE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
1.2.1. Pulse Production
Pulse crops have a relatively small share in the total agricultural area and production when compared to cereals. Pulse production data for major pulse producing countries from 2000 to 2009 is presented in Table 1.1.
The global average yield of pulse crops during 2008 was estimated to be around 1 tonne ha-1, which is significantly lower than of average yields of cereals. The global pulse production during 2009 was 61.5 million tonnes (Mt) from an area of about 70.6 million hectares (Mha), with an average yield of 871 kg ha-1. Developing and developed countries contribute about 74% and 26% respectively to the global production of pulses. India, China, Brazil, Canada, Myanmar and Australia are the major pulse producing countries. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world, contributing around 25–28% of the total global pulse production. The pulse production in India is about 15 million tonnes covering an area of about 22 Mha. Canada, India, Nepal, USA, China and Ethiopia are the main lentil producing countries, Canada being the largest producer. India, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia are the main chickpea producing countries. India is the largest producer of chickpeas and pigeon peas. India contributes about 90% of pigeon peas, 75% of chickpeas and 37% of lentils to the area under these pulses. Canada is the largest contributor to the global production of dried peas; China, Russia, India, USA and France are other major producers. Brazil, India and Myanmar are the main producers of dry beans. Brazil is the largest producer of dry beans, but does not produce much of other pulses. Turkey produces large amounts of lentils and chickpeas, but very few peas or beans. Pigeon pea is grown only in the developing world; India, Myanmar and Kenya are the main producers of this crop. Average global pulse production of 61.2 Mt during the triennium 2007–09 was recorded, representing an annual growth of about 0.7% per annum over the 55.03 Mt produced in 1997. Myanmar (11.48%), Canada (10.80%), Germany (8.27%), Sudan (8.08%), Spain (7.37%), Ethiopia (4.92%), China (4.67%) and Syria (4.12%) showed more than 4% annual pulse production growth rate. In the past, the production of pulses remained relatively low because they were less favoured by farmers due to their lower yield, greater susceptibility to diseases and less remunerative price than cereals. Worldwide, around 70% of the area harvested for pulses falls under rainfed area with low input resources, compared to only about 30% for cereals. This is mainly responsible for the low average global yields of pulse crops, which are around one-fourth the average yields of cereal crops. World average yields of pulses have increased slightly with a growth rate of 0.4% per annum over the last decade against growth of 1.5% per annum for cereals. Dry beans cover the highest proportion of total area under pulses, followed by chickpeas and cowpeas. Chickpea is the second most important pulse crop in the world, grown on 11 Mha with a total production of around 9 Mt during 2008. The producer price of pulses has also increased in both developing and developed countries at a growth rate of around 1.5% and 3% respectively during the last decade.
Large number of different pulses with diverse composition and processing quality are grown in different countries, in a wide range of agro-climate conditions. Dry beans, dry peas, chickpea, lentils and pigeon peas are the important pulses in terms of production and consumption. Dry beans contributed around 32% to global pulse production, followed by dry peas (17%), chickpea (15.9%), broad beans (7.5%), lentils (5.7%), cowpeas (6%) and pigeon pea (4.0%). Chickpeas are consumed to the largest extent in India and comprises about 45–50% of the total pulse production there. Beans accounted for the largest share of the world's pulse production followed by peas, chickpeas and lentils. Among pulses produced worldwide, dry bean, pea, chickpea, and lentil contribute about 46%, 26%, 20% and 8%, respectively. Globally, South Asia is the largest producer of chickpeas (about 76%) with a share of more than 80% of area harvested. The developing countries' share in total area and production of chickpeas is 95% and 93%, respectively. The Indian subcontinent, eastern Africa and Central America/Caribbean region are the world's main pigeon pea producing regions. Worldwide, the total area under pigeon pea has increased by around 15% in the last two decades. Lentils are relatively more tolerant to drought and are grown throughout the world. Worldwide, the area under lentils has also increased, but less than that under pigeon pea. However, the production of lentils has increased more than the area under this crop. South Asia is the largest lentil growing and producing region in the world, with around 50% of growing area and 40% of production. Lentils are a crop of developed as well as developing countries. The developed countries (mostly Canada, the USA and Australia) contribute around one-third of the total area as well as one-third of total production. Figure 1.3 shows the global share of pulses in terms of acreage and production.
1.2.2. Consumption of Pulses
The average per capita consumption of different pulses is given in Table 1.2. With a share of 25–28% in pulse production, India does not have the highest pulse consumption on a per capita basis. The availability of pulses in India has decreased from 60 g/day per person in 1951 to 31 g/day per person in 2008. Brazil has the largest average per capita consumption of pulses, followed by Ethiopia.
Many countries that do not contribute much to global pulse production, such as Ethiopia and Cameroon, have higher average per capita consumption than that of India and Pakistan. Brazil also has comparatively higher per capita pulse consumption (45.22 g/day per person). China is also one of the top pulse producing countries but has one of the lowest rates of per capita pulse consumption.
The changing trend in the consumption of pulses indicates that the dietary patterns have also changed around the world over the last decade and the demand for pulses has increased. The dietary pattern is influenced by many factors, such as income, prices, individual preferences, culture and environmental conditions, etc. The dietary energy measured in kcals per capita per day has been steadily increasing worldwide, as indicated by FAOSTAT data. Worldwide the contribution of cereals to per capita calorie intake over the last decade has decreased whereas the share of pulse crops has remained more or less constant. In developing countries, the contribution of cereals to per capita calorie consumption has declined. The rate of increase in pulse production in top pulse producing countries like India and China has been less than the population growth rate during the last two decades. As a result, the per capita consumption of pulse grains has increased in these countries.
The import of pulses by major consumer countries had little impact in stabilizing their price in last decade. The price of pulses continuously rose between 2000 and 2010, at much faster rate than that of cereals, in most developing countries. To meet the increasing global demand for pulses, pulse production must be increased in tandem with consumption demand. If the rate of increase in the area under pulse crop remains low (less than 0.5% per year), as in the last decade, then there may be acute shortage of pulses in future. This will significantly affect the nutritional status of people living in developing countries such as India, where a large sector of the population is vegetarian, relying on pulses to meet their daily protein requirement. Pulse production will have to be increased by around 20–25% by 2030 to meet the increasing global demand for pulses. Increasing the area and introducing high-yielding varieties could help in meeting the estimated future demand for pulses. It is estimated that an area of about 80–82 Mha may be needed to meet increasing demand in the next two decades. Considering the present growth rate in pulse productivity and population, the present yield of 50 kg h-1 needs to be increased to around 120 kg h in the next two decades to meet the increasing global demand for pulses.
1.2.3. Trade in Pulses
The average production cost of pulse grains is higher than that of cereal grains in the major pulse producing developing countries. Additionally, pulse production costs have increased more in the last few years in most pulse producing countries and this has increased the price of pulses in the international market. Pulses are imported by different countries to meet their domestic demand which arises from the increase in population. Table 1.3 demonstrates the import and export volume of important pulses by various countries. The international pulse trade has averaged around 7.4 Mt during the last decade. Table 1.3 clearly shows that peas contribute most to world pulse trade, followed by beans, lentils and chickpeas. Canada is the world's largest producer and exporter of yellow and green field peas. Canada exports food peas to South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) as well as South and Central American countries. In Europe, peas imported from Canada used for feed purposes in the animal feed industry. Canada produces many types of beans (navy, pinto, kidney, black, cranberry, great northern) and around 70% of the bean crop is exported to the USA, UK and Italy every year. Turkey, Sri Lanka, UAE, Egypt, Algeria and Spain are the major lentil importing countries. India is ranked as the top importer of chickpeas, dried peas and dried beans. Pakistan, Spain, UAE, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia are the other major importers of chickpeas. Brazil is the second largest importer of dried beans after India, followed by USA, Italy, UK, Japan and China. Canada exports the largest quantity of dried peas and lentils, followed by the USA. Australia is the largest exporter of chickpeas. Mexico, Turkey, Myanmar, Canada and Ethiopia are other chickpea exporting countries. These counties export less than half the amount of chickpeas exported by Australia.
The production cost of pulse grains is greater than that of cereals in both developing and developed countries. At present, world trade in pulse crops represents about 12–15% of pulse production. This indicates that about 85–88% of pulse crops are consumed in the country where they are produced and only 12–15% is either imported or exported. Both the import and the export of pulse grains have increased worldwide in the last decade. It is also worth noting that, in parallel, the price of pulse grains traded in the world is increasing at a much higher rate than their production.
The inability of developing countries to increase their export volume of legumes arises from several issues including post-harvest losses, particularly during storage and milling of grain legumes, and lack of support services, particularly credit and marketing. Mycotoxin contamination and pesticide residues in pulse crops are also persistent issues in both developed and developing countries. In fact, to meet the food needs of the future, it is critically important that scientific and technological advancements be accelerated and applied both in agricultural practices for pulse crops and in the food industry involved in pulse processing.
1.3. CURRENT STATUS OF PULSE PROCESSING
Pulses are generally processed before consumption. The consumption of pulses in different parts of the world varies depending on their availability, dietary pattern and the local prevailing conditions. Pulses are known to be used in a range of food preparations after suitable processing. Pulse processing has evolved from being merely a need to store pulses safely from the time and location of harvest until they reach the consumer. For example, chickpeas and beans are consumed as whole seeds as well as flour. Cooking, germination or use as composite flours for preparation of a variety of snack products (deep fried or extruded) are some of the common ways in which pulses are used for human consumption. The whole or split grains are also roasted and fried for consumption as snack products. According to the FAO, about 71% of global pulse consumption is for food, while 18% goes to feed with most of the remaining used as seed. The food industry is increasingly interested in the potential to incorporate novel ingredients such as pulses into food products to improve nutritional value and health benefits. A general trend to increase the use of pulses and pulse fractions in the development of functional foods such as high fibre, gluten-free food with low glycaemic index can be evidenced in recent times. Pulse fractions are also incorporated into the different food products to improve functionality such as water and oil absorption. In general, pulses have been given lesser priority in terms of processing. Therefore, the pulse industry must advance its knowledge of the processing of pulses into ingredients and the impact of such processing on the functionality of such ingredients in food product formulations. Attention must be given to the optimisation of processing in terms of quality and functionality, in addition to other factors such as yield and energy use, in order to successfully introduce more value-added pulse processing and the incorporation of these ingredients into foods. Use of novel food processing technologies could be an alternative approach to introduce novel food products based on pulse crops in the developed countries.
1.4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE TRENDS
Given the continuing population growth and the still low per capita consumption of pulses, the prospects for further expanding pulse processing and utilisation appear bright. Pulse production, processing and utilisation are expected to expand in the future as further economic development takes hold on a global scale and as changing lifestyles demand an increasing population to consume healthier foods. The introduction of modern technologies will invariably improve the processing and utilisation of pulses in both developed and developing countries. The potential of pulses for meeting food requirements is great. The promotion of pulse processing industries and the introduction of innovations to existing processes will require the active participation of government or policy-makers, research bodies and entrepreneurs.
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Excerpted from Pulse Chemistry and Technology by Brijesh K. Tiwari Narpinder Singh. Copyright © 2012 Brijesh K. Tiwari and Narpinder Singh. Excerpted by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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