Development of Pea (Pisum sativum L.) and Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Snacks using Different Cooking Methods

Abstract

The research objectives were: to evaluate the quality of a pea snack prepared using four different methods of cooking, namely, frying, baking, steaming and microwave; to determine the effect of blending dried green pea with chickpea dhal on the quality of a fried pea snack. Green pea and chickpea snacks were prepared according to a traditional Mauritian recipe by using dried green pea and chickpea dhal respectively. Instrumental colour (CIE L*a*b*) and texture (shear force) were measured. Moisture content was determined by the air-oven drying method and fat content was quantified by the soxhlet extraction method. Quantitative Descriptive Analysis was performed by 7 experienced assessors of CFTRI using 15 cm line scales. The fried green pea snack obtained highest score for “crispy” and lowest score for “moist” texture attributes compared to the nonfried snacks (p<0.05). Higher instrumental shear force values were recorded for fried snacks than those which were cooked by other methods (p<0.05). Shear force was lowest for the steamed green pea snack (4.33±0.07 N) and highest for the fried green pea snack (20.89±0.93 N) (p<0.05). The CIE L* (lightness) values of the snack surface showed that the fried snacks were darker than the non-fried snacks (p<0.05). The fried snacks were characterised by positive CIE a*, representing red colour, with the highest value obtained for the chickpea snack (9.77±0.18) (p<0.05). On the other hand, the CIE a* results for the nonfried snacks were negative, representing green colour, with the lowest value noted for the steamed green pea snack (-2.33±0.44) (p<0.05). The fried pea snack was found to have much higher fat content than the non-fried snacks: fried snack (27.94 % w/w, wet weight basis); non-fried snacks (1.20-2.75% w/w/, wet weight basis). The reverse trend was observed for the moisture content data: fried snack (39.86% w/w, wet weight basis); non-fried snacks (45.56-68.10% w/w, wet weight basis). The sensory scores for the snack prepared with equal proportion of green pea and chickpea radiated a picture which was intermediate between the trends for the fried green pea and fried chickpea snacks. Sensory scores for “fried oil” and “onion” flavour characteristics were highest for the fried green pea snack while the fried chickpea snack obtained highest score for “pulsey” flavour and lowest score for “greenish inner core” (p<0.05). Significant correlations were established between sensory scores for colour and texture, as well as colour and flavour characteristics. Correlations between instrumental and sensory data for colour and texture parameters were also significant. The fried and non-fried snacks were comparable in terms of overall quality scores given by assessors.

Keywords: green pea, chickpea, snack, frying, steaming, baking, microwave cooking, sensory characteristics, quality