Skip to content

Faba beans could be a go-to protein for food companies

Over the past year, University of Alberta scientist Lingyun Chen has developed a soluble faba bean protein concentrate. Food companies are already lining up to get some.

Everyone knows that Alberta farmers love their peas. Lentils have surged in acreage over the past decade. Dry beans are grown in large quantities too.

Still, as Alberta pulses stake a claim for a bigger role as healthy food ingredients, faba beans could be the pulse to watch.

“Faba beans are higher in protein, between 28% and 32%, compared to peas which are typically around 22% to 24%,” said Chen, Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Alberta. “The food industry has been showing a lot of interest in faba beans because they’re cheaper than other pulses, even though it’s higher in protein. With the higher protein in the final product they could have a protein claim on the label and it would also be gluten-free.”

W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions of Innisfail is one of the companies helping to drive Alberta pulses’ growth into food ingredients. The company believed that, if Alberta could develop a faba bean-based protein concentrate of around 60% protein, food manufacturers could use it as a key ingredient in everything from nutrition bars to protein powders to breakfast cereals.

In 2016, with funding from Alberta Pulse Growers, Chen set out to develop this ground-breaking food ingredient for Alberta.

Solubility a key consideration

As Chen explains, the solubility of protein is important for meeting the functional needs of food companies. She used a partial hydrolyzation process to increase solubility. After hydrolysis, she took steps to improve the colour of the material and then separated the different components. “For faba beans we are looking at the initial fractionation,” Chen said. “After pearling to remove the surface, we then make flour and separate the different components, so you get fractions that are rich in protein, rich in fibre or rich in starch.”

In just one year of work, Chen successfully developed a soluble protein concentrate from faba beans. It’s a product W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions has been looking for as it aims to participate in the fast-growing global food ingredients market. An international company has also expressed interest.

The final phase of the project runs to November 2017, in conjunction with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s Food Processing Development Centre in Leduc. The team there will produce two or three food prototypes based on Chen’s protein concentrate, perform sensory testing, analyze the products’ nutritive value and compare the quality of the protein with and without the hydrolysis process.

Thanks to Chen’s work, food companies could soon have access to a made-in-Alberta high-protein concentrate from faba bean. It could the essential ingredient in a wide range of healthy food products, and another element in the growth of faba bean acres in Alberta.

“We have been working with pulse proteins for many years, and with faba bean protein the past two years,” Chen said. “It’s a niche that many companies are interested in.”

 

Project at a glance

Project title:                Value added applications of pulse proteins and fibre

Project lead:                Lingyun Chen, University of Alberta

Total value of project: $218,045

Start date:                   February 15, 2016

Completion date:        November 30, 2017