Extrusion Processing and Evaluation of an Expanded, Puffed Pea Snack

The use of grain legumes such as dry field pea (Pisum sativum) as major ingredients in snack foods may help to increase the nutritional appeal of these foods. Pea based expanded snack foods were developed using formulations varying in pea flour, pea fiber and pea starch and extrusion processing temperature. The products’ physical characteristics, including shear strength, bulk density and expansion index, were characterized. The incorporation of pea fiber had the greatest effect on the texture of the final product whereas the addition of pea flour only slightly affected the physical properties of the product. Temperature also had an effect on the physical properties bulk density and expansion ratio but had no significant effect on the shear strength of the extrudates. Objective texture tests indicated that pea based puffed sample characteristics were comparable to commercial samples made of corn ingredients. The feasibility and quality of pea flour, starch and fiber as functional ingredients in snack food products was demonstrated.