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The effect of pea flour processing on the nutritional quality and end-product quality of extruded breakfast cereals
H. MASKUS (1), L. Bourre (2), A. Sarkar (2), P. Ebbinghaus (2) (1) Canadian International Grains Institute, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; (2) Canadian International Grains Institute, , Canada.

Breakfast cereals are currently viewed by consumers to be low in nutritional density, formulated with starchy, low protein ingredients. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of adding different yellow pea ingredients on the nutritional differences of breakfast cereal formulations. Peas were roller milled into refined pea flour (RYPF), refined pea semolina (RYPS), whole pea flour (WYPF) and whole pea semolina (WYPS) and were incorporated at 56.7% of the breakfast cereal formulation along with corn meal, sugar, salt and pea fiber. A corn based control was also produced containing sugar, salt and pea fiber. Pea based breakfast cereals were analyzed for protein, dietary fiber, iron, potassium, folate, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin content. End-product quality characteristics of breakfast cereals including bulk density, number of air cells, and bowl life were also analyzed. Following roller milling, RYPS contained significantly greater (<i>p</i><0.05) protein content as compared to WYPS , RYPF and WYPF. WYPS contained significantly greater dietary fiber content compared to the WYPF, RYPF and RYPS. Following processing, breakfast cereals made with RYPS and WYPS had significantly greater (<i>p</i><0.05) protein and potassium contents. All pea based breakfast cereals contained greater amounts of protein, fiber, thiamine, niacin, iron and potassium as compared to the corn based control cereal. Statistical differences were observed in bulk density of the pea based breakfast cereals with the lowest bulk density observed for the refined yellow pea ingredients. These results indicate that pea ingredients can be used to improve the nutritional density of corn based breakfast cereal products without significantly affecting product quality. In addition, processing conditions of the pea ingredients can also affect nutrient content as well as end-product quality characteristics.