Crops - Legumes

This chapter discusses the different processing technologies applied to legumes, which are grouped as traditional and modern processing technologies. The major traditional techniques used in the processing of legumes are soaking, dehulling, milling, boiling/cooking, roasting, pounding and grinding, frying, steaming, germination, fermentation, and popping. Modern processing technologies for legumes involve the use of sophisticated equipment and result in the mass production of products. Some of these technologies include extrusion cooking, high-pressure cooking, air classification, agglomeration, and canning. The chapter deals with some of these technologies as applied to the processing of legumes and their effects on the nutritional and physical characteristics of legumes. It concludes with a discussion on the ingredients obtained from legumes and the applications of legumes. A list of some of the potential and current applications of legume flours and fractions including pulses is presented.