Protein-rich, sustainable, allergen-free and technologically advantageous: Functional legume flours open up new possibilities for snack recipes. One of the leading suppliers in this field is the traditional German company Müller’s Mühle, which recently invested in new refining technology for legume flours at its site in Gelsenkirchen.
By Dr. Bernhard Reichenbach
Part of the GoodMills Group and market leader in pulses in the B2C market, Müller’s Mühle specializes in the B2B segment, producing special flours based on pulses and rice for numerous sectors of the food industry. With an investment of EUR 14.5 m in a so-called air separation plant at its Gelsenkirchen site, the company again has significantly expanded its product range. Uwe Walter, Managing Director at Müller’s Mühle, explains this step: “Pulses serve several major food trends at the same time, such as vegan, high-protein, low carb, clean label and free from, as well as the topic of sustainability. With their low carbon footprint and excellent nutritional profile, they are the ideal raw material for a sustainable diet – a true superfood that will become more and more important in the future.” The special flours can be used in a wide variety of foods, for example as the basis for meat, egg and milk substitutes, but also for snacks, baked goods and pasta, as well as for protein enrichment and nutritional optimization of numerous other foods.
The air separation process enables the production of functional flours with a protein content of up to 65 % by separating individual flour components without changing their natural structure. Müller’s Mühle uses different types of peas, beans and lentils as raw materials, with their nutrients preserved thanks to gentle processing.
The flours are marketed under the Smart Pulses Pro brand. They are naturally free from allergens and are also considered clean label ingredients. In addition to proteins, the legume flours provide dietary fibre and minerals, B vitamins and trace elements, and are far superior to protein isolates in this respect. In terms of sustainability, the flours are convincing due to their resource-saving cultivation: “Legumes do not require artificial nitrogen fertilizer, increase soil fertility and have a low water requirement”, Uwe Walter knows. “Legume-based products therefore also appeal to consumers who take environmental concerns into account when making purchasing decisions, and are willing to pay a higher price for food that is produced as sustainably as possible.”
From a technological point of view, it is not that easy to enrich snacks such as crackers or extruded products with legume flours. From a content of 30 % upwards, the products take on a grassy, bean-like aftertaste. In addition, doughs with a minimum legume flour content of 25 % become very sticky and are therefore difficult to process. Sticky doughs cannot be rolled out thinly, which leads to reduced end product quality in crackers, stacked crisps and similar snacks. However, if the proportion of legume flour is reduced, the protein content can no longer be claimed – unless protein isolates are added to compensate, which would then be at the expense of the clean label declaration.
Here, functional legume flours from Müller’s Mühle offer a decisive advantage: “As their high protein content is solely due to mechanical concentration, snack products benefit from both protein enrichment and texture optimization”, Uwe Walter emphasizes. As part of the GoodMills Group, Müller’s Mühle can draw on the expertise of GoodMills Innovation in the development or reformulation of recipes. This has already resulted in a number of concepts that meet increasing industry demand.
Smart Pulses Pro concentrates with a protein content of 40 to 65 % are suitable for a wide range of snack products such as crackers, coated nuts, extruded snacks, stacked chips or tortilla chips. A possibility is, for example, a gluten-free red lentil protein cracker combining a Smart Pulses Pro concentrate of red lentils with rice flour and salt. Free from isolates and with a protein content of 22 %, based on total calories, such a cracker benefits from a clean-label declaration – and also impresses with its short ingredient list. The high protein content ensures a pleasant crunchiness and good browning.
To optimize the texture of the dough, Purafarin flours can be used as well. Characterized by a balanced starch-protein ratio, they contain less protein than Smart Pulses Pro but allow a high addition rate due to their good water-binding capacity and advantageous taste profile. They are suitable, among other things, for extruded protein snacks, but also for coatings. As doughs with Purafarin are smooth and easy to handle, they can be rolled out very thinly – a decisive advantage for product concepts such as legume-based tortilla chips.
Uwe Walter predicts further growth potential for products with legume flours in the snack sector: “We are currently observing a strong increase in demand for protein enrichment. Legume flours also contribute to clean label and sustainability trends, offer a good nutritional profile and are allergen- and gluten-free. They are therefore an optimal solution for healthier snack variants.”
