U.S. Pea Flour Boosted in Asia

FARGO - May 29/07 - SNS -- Noodle makers from Asia received a short course on using U.S. pea flout to make pasta and noodles at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) last week.

Participants are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. They represent ten noodle manufacturing companies, a university, and international representatives of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council (USADPLC). The short course is one of two offered this summer in collaboration with USADPLC. Chinese processors will attend a second course later this year.

Dr. Mehmet Tulbek, NCI pulse and oilseed quality specialist, coordinates and teaches in the course.

"US pea cultivars show excellent milling and pasting properties; therefore the short course promotes pea flour fortification in terms of blending and end product quality attributes," says Tulbek.

Topics in the course include pea flour quality evaluation, functional properties, effects of pea flour on dough quality, pasta and noodle making technologies, shelf life, and sensory evaluation aspects.

Participants also toured Premier Pulses International, Minot, ND, and visited with pea breeders at Carrington Research Extension Center, Carrington, ND.

Minerva Salvatierra, a participant who is the research and development specialist with Monde Nissin Corporation, Philippines, comments, "I will use the information from this course to innovate new products.

"We are looking for a raw material that is a benefit for our consumers. What we have learned is timely to what we are producing right now as we focus on health, wellness and nutrition products."

Larry White, marketing director for the Northern Pulse Growers Association, says, "We do a significant amount of business already in the Philippines, selling U.S. peas to their snack food industry.

"Malaysia and Indonesia are also buying a little product. This course will open doors for us. We hope these people go back home with new ideas about pea flour as an ingredient in their products.

"We have already seen results with a couple of pasta companies in Europe," White says. "One major pasta manufacturer fortifies its products with a chickpea and lentil flour, and their sales in Europe have sky-rocketed."