Location: Potato, Pulse and Small Grains Quality Research
2025 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Develop novel techniques to evaluate pulse crop properties such as water holding capacity, starch pasting quality, protein extractability, and mixing characteristics with cereals; discover high-throughput assays to measure these characteristics and develop an efficient service lab to provide these services to breeders. (NP306, C1, PS 1A and 1B).
Objective 2: Develop novel techniques for incorporating pulse ingredients into bread recipes to assess dough and bread quality parameters such as milling quality, dough strength, baking qualities, and density, and develop a service lab to help breeders incorporate these traits into new pulse varieties. (NP 306, C1, PS 1A and 1B).
Objective 3: In collaboration with breeders, determine the impact and variability induced by breeding and processing on the nutritional quality (proximates, micronutrients, selected other nutrients) of pulse foods. (NP 301, C1, PS 1A and 1B; NP 107, C1, PS 1A).
Objective 4: Develop knowledge for incorporating pulse ingredients into novel food applications (e.g., beverages, dairy products, meat analogues), identify techniques for measuring properties of pulses to enable development of ‘healthy’-food applications, and provide support for breeders to incorporate these traits into new pulse varieties (NP 306, C1, PS 1A and 1B).
Approach
Facilities and protocols will be established to study the functional properties of whole and fractionated pulse crop ingredients that would be relevant to food industry applications. Research will be conducted to understand how pulse ingredients can be incorporated into bread recipes (at different inclusion percentages) to assess dough and bread quality parameters. These will include milling quality, dough strength (mixograph measurements), baking qualities (loaf height, color, crust strength, size of air pockets, and texture of slices), density, etc. Methods will also be established to conduct compositional analyses on different pulse varieties, breeding materials, and pulse fractions from these germplasm sources. Research will be conducted to develop high-throughput assays for functional and compositional traits. The Category 1 scientist and staff will establish a Pulse Quality Service laboratory with standardized procedures for accepting samples, generating data, and releasing information to breeders and other pulse scientists to help develop pulse lines that might be used as ingredients for bread or other pulse-based products.
Progress Report
This project was established in March 2020 to establish a Pulse Crop Quality Laboratory to develop accurate and efficient laboratory methods for testing end-use qualities of pulses and to work with public pulse breeders to enhance germplasm to add value to pulses. The research leader position for this unit is vacant and being recruited as a pulse-crop-focused supervisory food technologist. Full project plan development and approval was deferred until scientist and research leader vacancies are filled. Quality sample processing and research has continued by support scientist (hired during FY25). Analyses of pulse seed mineral concentrations were carried out during the year, in collaboration with ARS researchers in Pullman, Washington and Mandan, North Dakota, as well as several university cooperators for a lentil project. Seed samples were received for each of the studies, seeds were ground and digested, and mineral concentrations were determined by optical emission spectroscopy. The results were used to assist both genetic studies to improve seed mineral quality and field studies to assess the impact of agronomic practices on seed mineral quality.
Accomplishments