Production of Aquafaba from Locally Produced Yellow Peas

Aquafaba, the water left after cooking pulses, can be used as a culinary plant-based foaming agent. It is often produced from chickpeas, even though other pulses can also be used. The aim was to investigate the potential of producing a yellow pea aquafaba with a high foaming ability and to compare it with chickpea aquafaba. The importance of temperature, concentration, pH, salt during boiling and the addition of sugar were investigated. Foaming ability was generally superior or similar from yellow peas to that from chickpeas, possible due to differences in the protein composition. Boiling without salt, concentrating the aquafaba to a Brix value of at least 3.5 and reducing the pH to 4.2 were found to be optimal. The addition of sugar resulted in a foaming stability of 98%. However, when further processed into meringues, the yellow pea aquafaba resulted in a lower liking compared with the chickpea aquafaba.