Pulses for nutrition and health

Pulses for nutrition and health Ruth Charrondiere, Raíssa do Vale,

Fernanda Grande

What are pulses? • Annual leguminous crops yielding from one to 12 grains

or seeds of variable size, shape and colour within a pod.

• Used for both food and feed

• The term "pulses" is limited to crops harvested solely for dry grain, thereby excluding crops harvested green for food (green peas, green beans, etc.) which are classified as vegetable crops.

• Also excluded are those crops used mainly for oil extraction (e.g. soybean and groundnuts) and leguminous crops (e.g. seeds of clover and alfalfa) that are used exclusively for sowing purposes.

• They include bambara beans; dry beans (e.g. kidney, adzuki, black gram, sword, winged, hyacinth, yam); dry broad beans; dry horse beans; chick peas; dry cow peas; lentils; lupins; dry peas; pigeon peas; and vetches.

Source: FAO, 2015. Available on: http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/

Source: Pulse Canada

Pulses are part of may traditional diets

Why are they important?

• Pulse crops such as lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas are an important source of plant-based proteins and amino acids for humans and animals. They also provide other important nutrients;

• Pulses play as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition. They are part of a healthy diet to address all forms of malnutrition

• Pulses are thought to have positive effects on the prevention of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, coronary conditions and cancer

• Pulses are recommended in many dietary guidelines such as Health Canada’s Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, the MyPlate system of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Eatwell Plate of the Food Standards Agency in the UK and Nutrition Australia’s Healthy Living Pyramid

• Pulses are an important part of vegetarian diets and are often used as meat replacement. They are therefore contributing positively to climate change.

Source: UN, 2014. Available on: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/231&Lang=E

World production

Source: FAOSTAT, 2015

Food supply of pulses – World and Regions

Source: FAOSTAT, 2015

Food supply quantity – pulses (kg/capita/yr)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1419

61

1963

1965

1967

1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

kg

Year

World

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Nutrient profile (per 100g EP)

Pulse Energy

(kcal) kJ Protein

(g) Fat (g)

CHOAVL (g)

Dietary Fiber (g)

Fe (mg) Zn (mg) Folate(mcg)

Lentils, dried, raw#

(351)1485 24.6 1.1 55.3 10.7 6.51 3.3 479

Beans, white, dried*

(335)1420 22.1 1.5 47.1 16.7 5.7 3.8 395

Cowpea, dried, raw

(316)1340 21.2 1.3 47.2 15.3 7.3 4.6 417

Chickpeas, mature

seeds, raw# (378)1580 20.5 6.0 50.7 12.2 4.3 2.8 557

Beans, pinto, mature

seeds, raw# (347)1340 21.4 1.2 47.0 15.5 5.1 2.3 525

Bean, carioca, raw

** (329)1377 20.0 1.3 42.8 18.4 8.0 2.9 -

Source: * West African Food Composition Table, 2012; #USDA, 2014; **TACO, 2011.

Importance in human nutrition - Composition

• High protein content in their structure and significant importance in terms of nutrition source;

• The amino acid composition of pulses are complementary to those of cereals, and if consumed in combination, increase the overall protein quality of the meal;

• High content of fibre and relatively high amylose starch and antinutrients (phytic acid)

• Low fat content and no cholesterol;

• Low glycemic index;

• Rich in minerals (iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc) and B-vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, and folate).

• The high iron content contributes to meeting iron requirements

• However, phytate is negatively impacting on the mineral absorption

• Produce flatulance because of the oligosaccharide content

Campos-Vega et al., 2010; Kalogeropoulos, 2010; Curran, 2012

Importance in human nutrition – Health benefits

• Association between consumption of pulses and reduced risk of obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, components of metabolic syndrome and cancer;

• Pulses may help to increase satiety and weight loss (fibres, trypsin inhibitors and lectins may reduce food intake by facilitating and prolonging cholecystokinin secretion)

• Dietary fibre and resistant starch of pulses have been shown to alter energy expenditure, substrate trafficking and fat oxidation as well as visceral adipose deposition

• The high amounts of insoluble fibre found in pulses has shown to improve colon health, helping to prevent colon-rectal cancer

• Phytonutrients, including antioxidants, found in pulses may have anti-cancer properties;

Alekel et al., 2000; Anderson &Major, 2002 ; Smith et al., 2012; Hutchins et al., 2012; Marinangele & Jones, 2012; Dahl et al., 2012

Authorative Food composition Databases on Pulses

First step - Collection of analytical data

• To be published in the FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Database for Biodiversity and in the FAO/INFOODS Analytical Food Composition Database

• Over 22000 scientific articles identified which need to be evaluated and relevant data to be compiled into the databases. Data from other sources to be received, e.g. Pulses Canada

• Two species already evaluated:

• velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) 200 articles evaluated

• and yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus L.) 45 articles evaluated

• and are being compiled

Second step – Global User Database

• Develop a user database with a complete nutrient profile of 28 nutrients and amino acids

FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Database for Biodiversity -BioFoodComp

Foods counting for biodiversity: • foods below species level, i.e.

subspecies, variety/cultivar/breed level (genetics)

• underutilized foods • wild foods

Foods cover 11 food groups:

Cereals, starchy roots and tubers, legumes, nuts and seeds, vegetables, fruits, meat and poultry, eggs, fish and shellfish, milk, and miscellaneous; pulses in the future

• About 6500 foods and

>65000 data points

• About 450 food components

Number of food entries

Version 1.0 (2010) 2401

Version 1.1 (2011) 2577

Version 2.0 (2012) 6411

Version 2.1 (2013) 6497

Possible uses of the Food composition Databases on Pulses

• Promote pulses, incl. ‘forgotten’ pulses, for their nutritional contribution and thus increase their consumption

• probably after some agriculture research aiming to decrease negative features such as high cooking time or high phytate content

• by adding processing, e.g. production of pulse flour, for urban settings

• Identify data gaps and fill them

• Collect recipes and publish a recipe book or fact sheets including their nutrient values. Organizing pulses fairs with tasting of different recipes (with NVs)

• Emphasis role of pulses in school nutrition, complementary feeding, healthy diets, meat-free days

Thank you for your attention