Pulses and food security: Dietary protein, digestibility, bioactive and functional properties

Background: Food security is a current major concern. Protein malnutrition, in particular, must be overcome urgently. Simultaneously, food manufacturers are increasingly interested proteins from plant sources. Hence, pulse crops could be exploited as sustainable, climate change resistant and high quality protein sources. Scope and approach: Pulses, such as peas, common beans, cowpea, fava beans, chickpea, lentil, or lupin, contain high levels of globulins and albumins, providing around 33% of dietary needs. Nevertheless, there are different compositional and technological problems (e.g., digestibility, allergenicity, or antinutritional factors: ANF) that need to be overcome to consider pulse proteins as feasible alternative sources of protein. Key findings and conclusions: The ANF might be highly decreased by adequate processing conditions, increasing nutrients bioavailability and protein digestibility. Curiously, ANF might also be associated with the positive physiologic effects commonly attributed to pulses. In turn, the technological and functional properties (water and fat absorption, solubility, gel forming, emulsifying activity, foaming capacity and foam stability) of pulse proteins should be considered in food formulation and processing, particularly in the development of innovative food products, as already validated at industrial level. In either case, the potential allergenicity of pulse proteins (such as exemplified by lupin), or cross reactivity, should not be neglected throughout the complete production chain, including downstream concerns such as safe labelling. Despite the highlighted limitations, it seems evident that pulse proteins will have a major role in fulfilling food protein demands, contributing to food security worldwide, besides being achievable in more sustainable exploration processes.