Sustainable Strategies for Increasing Legume Consumption: Culinary and Educational Approaches

Abstract

Legumes are nutrient-dense crops with health-promoting benefits. However, several barriers are associated with their consumption. Emerging issues including food neophobic tendencies or taboos, unclear dietary guidelines on legume consumption, health concerns, and socio-economic reasons, as well as long cooking procedures, adversely affect legume consumption frequency. Pre-treatment methods, including soaking, sprouting, and pulse electric field technology, are effective in reducing the alpha-oligosaccharides and other anti-nutritional factors, eventually lowering cooking time for legumes. Extrusion technology used for innovative development of legume-enriched products, including snacks, breakfast cereals and puffs, baking and pasta, represents a strategic way to promote legume consumption. Culinary skills such as legume salads, legume sprouts, stews, soups, hummus, and the development of homemade cake recipes using legume flour could represent effective ways to promote legume consumption. This review aims to highlight the nutritional and health effects associated with legume consumption, and strategies to improve their digestibility and nutritional profile. Additionally, proper educational and culinary approaches aimed to improve legumes intake are discussed.

Exploring the Sensory Characteristics of the Soybean Spreads Enhanced with Vegetables and Spices

“…Incorporating beetroot into vegetable spreads not only improves sensory characteristics but also aligns with the growing interest in functional foods that offer health benefits related to the antioxidant-rich composition that beetroot brings to these spreads [26]. Adding vegetables and spices improves the nutritional value of the dishes and products with legumes and enhances the taste [27]. Incorporating herbs and spices like cumin into legumes can help to reduce salt content without sacrificing the hedonic liking of low-salt legume-based mezzes [28].…”

Underrated aspects of a true Mediterranean diet: understanding traditional features for worldwide application of a “Planeterranean” diet

“…Other studies showed that legumes would also improve plasmatic levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides as well as affect blood pressure and endothelial function [ 101 ]. Legumes are often being called out as potentially deleterious for human health due to their content in anti-nutrients, including protease inhibitors, lectins, phytic acid, oxalate, and saponins that may reduce the bioavailability of some nutrients; however, certain procedures, such as soaking, sprouting, or simply cooking (i.e., boiling) seem to improve their digestibility and significantly limit their anti-nutrient properties [ 102 ].…”

Legumes and common beans in sustainable diets: nutritional quality, environmental benefits, spread and use in food preparations

“…According to Doma et al ( 97 ) the main characteristics that push consumers to choose beans are nutritional value, taste/consistency and versatility in cooking. While the strongest barriers to the bean’s consumption are: (I) beans are not part of traditional diet, (II) flatulence/abdominal discomfort, (III) knowledge gap about preparation and how to include them in daily diets ( 58 , 83 , 97 ), (IV) changes in lifestyles and less time available for cooking, and (V) greater availability of affordable processed foods easily to prepare ( 98 ). In this regard, consumers in developed countries avoid home-cooking beans due to the long cooking time involved.…”