Underutilized pulses: Quality evaluation and value addition

Underutilized pulses have significant potential for enhancing food and nutritional security while contributing to agricultural development. Quality assessment and value addition are important to promote underutilized pulses in an effective way. This study evaluated the physical, cooking, nutritional and phytochemical profiles of moth bean and rice bean. The bulk density of moth bean and rice beans were found to be 892 kg/m3 and 846 kg/m3, respectively. The cooking time for unroasted moth bean was 60 min and for roasted moth bean it was nearly half the time reduced (≈35 min). Roasting of pulses had significant reduction of cooking time. Both moth bean and rice bean exhibited a favorable nutritional profile, with protein contents of 20.63 g/100g and 19.28 g/100g respectively. The fat content was less than 1 g in both pulses while fiber content was at 5.6 % for moth bean and 4.32 % for the rice bean. The phytochemicals such as phytic acid, tannins and saponins were present in both pulses. Moth bean and rice bean are highly suitable for the preparation of regular pulse based recipes and products with commercial value as well. Nutrimix prepared using underutilized pulses were highly acceptable by semi-trained panel of sensory evaluation with a shelf life of two months and is suitable for commercial production.