Pulses are relatively a cheaper source of protein than milk, cheese, cashew, almond, meat
and fish etc., hence valuable for developing countries. The seeds of pulses are most commonly
eaten can be economically stored well for future use. The food values of seeds of pulses is
high, have about the some calorific value per unit weight as cereals and are fair sources of
some vitamins and minerals. Their protein contents are generally about double that of most
cereals. Consumption of pulses is highest in India as compared to other pulses growing
countries due to low purchasing power and religious restrictions on non-vegetarian diet.
Pulses contain about 18.0 to 32.0 % protein and about 1 to 5% fat. Pulses are considerably
richer in calcium than most cereals and contain about 100 to 200 mg of calcium per 100 g of
grain. They are also considerably rich in iron, thiamine, riboflavin and nicotinic acid as
compared to cereals. Young sprouts of pulses like mungbean, mothbean and chickpea are
popular foods in some places. Pulses contain several anti-nutritional factors, such as trypsin
and chymotrypsin inhibitors, lectins, polyphenols, flatulence factors, lathyrogens, saponins,
antihistamines and allergens. The protease inhibitors, lectins and other antinutrients cause
toxicity. Heat treatment has been well established to destroy proteinaceous antinutrients,
such as protease inhibitors and lectins, but heat treatment destroys some of the amino acids
and vitamins as well. For maintaining the nutritional value of food, it is necessary that heating
temperature and length of processing do not exceed the optimum temperature required to
eliminate the effect of inhibitors. Proteins in pulses are known to interact with lipids, tannins,
phytates, flavor compounds and pigments. These interactions occur when pulses are processed
and converted into products. It decreases the bioavailability of proteins. Similarly, tannins
and phytates interact with minerals and vitamins resulting in a decrease in their bioavailability.
Thus, bioavailability of nutrients depends not only on their content in the seed, but also on
the interaction of nutrients under various processing conditions. The pulses are subjected to
various processing techniques like milling, dehulling, soaking, germination, fermentation
and cooking. These processing techniques not only save time, energy and fuel but have
several nutritional advantages and produce edible products having a higher nutritional value
and lower toxic compound. The degrees of elimination of toxic compound depend on type of
pulses and the processing technique.
