The effect of different pre-treatments on unformulated pulse-based milk analogs: physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance.

This is the first part of a study on developing pulse-based milk analogs using chickpea, faba bean, and cowpea as raw materials. The objectives of the present study were to determine the processing conditions for pulse-based milk analog production at laboratory-scale and to investigate the effects of some pre-treatments such as dry milling (control), soaking and wet milling, blanching, blanching and dehulling, vacuum, and germination on lipoxygenase (LOX) activity of the raw material and some physicochemical and sensory properties of the final products. Dry milling provided the lowest LOX activity and the highest yield while soaking and wet milling resulted in a substantial increase in LOX activity, lower product yield, and a final product with lower whiteness value, regardless of the pulse type. Germination caused a significant decrease in LOX activity in all pulse types, while milk analogs produced from germinated pulses received the lowest acceptability scores from consumers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05836-7.