Factors affecting

cooking quality of pulses

◦ The hardness is of 2 types. Hard shell and sclerema
◦ Hard shell is described as a physical condition in which the seed fails to absorb
water
◦ Sclerema takes place in the cotyledons and is induced by various factors
◦ 1) Inherent character:
◦ some varieties are hard to cook inherently
◦ Cooking time is a heritable character that differs widely among genotypes
◦ Large variations exist in the cooking times of different varieties and species of
pulse crops
◦ Cooking time of whole seed is usually the highest in chick pea followed by pigeon
pea , black gram and green gram
2) Environmental factors

◦ Variation in cooking quality of pulses within and between varities could be

due to location, soil fertility, soil moisture and other environmental factors.
◦ 3) storage conditions:
◦ Cooking quality is influenced by time, temperature and relatively humidity
during storage.
◦ Cooking time for the same hardness increases with storage time.
◦ Moisture content during storage above 10 percent may cause deterioration
in the cooking quality.
◦ Increase in cooking time during storage is associated with decrease in
phytic acid and PCMP number relating the contents of pectin, calcium,
magnesium and phytin increased during storage.
◦ 4) seed maturity:
◦ High temperature at the time of maturing affects the cooking time.
Cooking time increases with the increase in seed maturity.
◦ The very hard mature seeds take long time to cook.
◦ 5) Dehulling:
◦ This reduces the cooking time by 70 percent and increases digestibility.
◦ 6) Soaking:
◦ Whole grams are soaked in water to improve the cooking quality.
◦ Whole grams like Bengal gram cannot be cooked to the desirable
consistency without this pretreatment.
◦ 7) salts:
◦ Hard – to – cook condition can be eliminated by soaking seeds in salt
solution consisting of 1 percent NaC1 and 0.75percent NaHCO3 instead of
only water.
◦ Separation of cotyledon cells occur in salt solution soaked seeds.
◦ Carbonate or bicarbonate not only act as an alkaline agent and buffer but
also acts as a protein dissociating, solubilizing or tenderising agent.
◦ Salts such as trisodium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate and ammonium
carbonate in small quantities improves cooking quality without
appreciably raising the salt and altering the taste.
◦ These chemicals could be added to cooking water or impregnate or coated
on the surface of the dal as a final step in milling.
◦ 8) Pre-cooking:
◦ The cooking time for precooked lentil seeds is less compared to
untreated ones.
◦ Precooking is done by cooking, treating with enzymes and dehydrating
in controlled conditions.
◦ 9) Phytin content:
◦ High available phosphorous in the soil contributes to high phytin
content in the seed and consequently to good cooking.
◦ 10) calcium & magnesium:
◦ Large amounts of insoluble calcium and magnesium pectates are formed in
the middle lamella of the cell walls when the seed is high in calcium and
magnesium or when the cooking water is high in these elements.
◦ pectinase treatment results in degradation of pectin substances thereby
reducing their ability to complex with Ca and Mg
◦ Enzyme treatment may facilitate cell wall dissolution during cooking process
◦ When legumes are cooked in hard water, they take long time to get cooked
◦ Hard water contains chlorides and sulphates of Ca & Mg salts
◦ They appear to react with pectic substances and phytates and harden the
cellulose and delay the cooking of pulses
◦ 11) Cellulose:
◦ The thickness of the palisade layer and the content of lignin and alpha
cellulose in the seed coats are probably important factors in the cooking
quality of pulses.
◦ Hard shell seeds in legumes resist water absorption and thereby delay the
cooking process.
◦ Middle – lamella of the cell wall and cell separation affects the cooking
time.
◦ Compared to other pulses, lentils require shorter time to cook due to their
soft seed coat content.

Sodium bicarbonate softens the cellulose and hastens cooking.

◦ It has been proposed that polymerization of polyphenolic compounds
in the seed coat where these substances are found and changes in the
micro-chemical structure of the cotyledons involving carbohydrates-
pectic substances, phytic acid & potassium, Ca & Mg ions, affect cooking
quality
 Hard to cook defect that delays the
cooking process can be due to
◦ Limited hydration of intercellular protein
◦ Pectin solubilization in the middle lamella by Ca and /or Mg
◦ Cross-linking of phenolics (lignification) and/or protein in the middle lamella of cellwall
◦ The interaction of the contents of phytin , Ca and Mg and free pectin could be an imp. Factor
governing the cooking process
◦ Thickness of the seed coat, palisade layer and the contents of lignin and alpha-cellulose in the seed
coats
◦ The time taken to cook, pulses is affected by the physical hardness of the seed, the chemical
composition of the cell walls- all of which affect the rate of penetration of water
◦ The physical size of the seed which governs the distance to which water must penetrate in order to
reach all parts of the seed also affects the cooking time
◦ Small seed tended to cook faster than larger seeds
◦ Thus apart from inherent character, chemical and physical nature of seed coat and
cotyledons affect cooking quality of pulses
◦ Among the legumes, green gram has relatively low amounts of protease inhibitors ,
polyphenols and flatus producing oligosaccharides and amylase inhibitor activities
◦ Green gram can be easily cooked at much faster rate than many other legumes
◦ Forms of Pulses:
◦ Pulses are used in different forms such as
◦ Whole legumes
◦ Decuticled split legumes with skin and without skin
◦ Germinated or fermented pulses
◦ Flour of pulses
◦ Parched pulses like Bengal gram and peas