Food & Nutrition Research

Research on the health attributes of pulses, their functional properties in food systems and food product applications, as well as pulse processing technology, is needed to advance Canada's pulse industry. Research results in these areas will be used to foster consumer demand as well as engage the food industry in efforts to increase their incorporation of pulses and pulse components into food products.

Click on a tab above to see a discussion of current research, tap into our data base or locate a pusle researcher.  See below media articles on research that is being conducted on pulses!

British Journal of Nutrition - Special issue on pulse nutrition and health research

Call for papers on now! Click here for more details

Food Research International - Special issue on pulse functionality research

Pulse Canada coordinated a special issue on pulse functionality research in the journal Food Research International. The special issue includes 6 review papers and 27 original scientific papers and was published in March 2010. Click here to view the table of contents

Media Articles

August 6, 2009 - The Globe and Mail's Leslie Beck writes an overview of the paper released in Diabetologia in August of 2009 which shows that a diet rich in pulses is beneficial for prevention of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/good-for-your-heart-and-blood-sugar/article1241208/

August 2009 - The August issue of Diabetologia, a scientific journal focused on Diabetes, published a paper stemming from a "meta-analysis" of pulse and diabetes related research.  This paper reveals that a diet rich in pulses can help regulate blood sugar, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and guard against heart attack and cancer. 
http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/

April 2009 - Article in the Winnipeg Free Press describing a very promising research project conducted by Drs. Rotimi Aluko and Harold Aukema at the University of Manitoba that has shown a protein extract from peas can help reduce blood pressure.

A better hypertension cure
By: Larry Kusch WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

24/01/2009 1:00 AM

WINNIPEG researchers think they've got a better way to treat hypertension -- a protein extract from yellow field peas grown on the Prairies. Clinical trials to test the innovative approach begin later this winter at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals at the U of M Smartpark, which is developing the product along with nutritional scientists at the University of Manitoba. If the trials are successful, patients could one day take a natural product, with no obvious side-effects, to reduce their high blood pressure. Meanwhile, its commercialization would benefit local farmers and food processors as well as the two closely knit city research institutions. "Our intention is to develop a product that can lower blood pressure but at the same time will not damage the kidneys," said Rotimi Aluko, a nutritional scientist who divides his time between the U of M and the Richardson Centre. Aluko and U of M colleague Harold Aukema found that the protein extract reduced blood pressure in rats by 25 to 30 per cent, compared with a control group. The product works by inhibiting the activity of renin, an enzyme that influences the contraction of blood vessels. In people with high blood pressure, the blood vessels contract too much, reducing blood flow. Pharmaceuticals treat hypertension in various ways, but there's only one that attacks renin, which Aluko sees as the most logical way to treat the condition. "Renin is like the head of an animal -- once you remove the head the animal is dead." "But the only drug that has been approved in Canada for inhibiting renin is not prescribed for people who have kidney problems because it has a damaging effect on the kidneys," he said. Peter Jones, director of the Richardson Centre, said he hopes to recruit 50 people for the pea protein extract study. Recruiting has already begun. "We haven't actually proven it yet," Jones said of the product's effectiveness. "But I think the study has enough weight behind it, in terms of what we already know about these things, that we're fairly optimistic that there will be some important results." Commercialization could still take several years. Aluko said the new product would likely first be marketed in pill form as a nutraceutical, but down the road it could be incorporated into various foods. The U of M and the Richardson Centre are gaining considerable attention in academic and food industry circles for their research, with some of the biggest food companies in the world knocking on their doors. The nutraceutical and functional-foods research carried out in Winnipeg has also drawn graduate students from around the world to the Manitoba capital, Aluko said. Jones said product commercialization is the three-year-old Richardson Centre's "new mantra" for the future. "We've been doing lots of ivory tower research, but now we've got to get into the translation of that research into products that you and I can use to benefit our health and will also serve (as a boost) for small and medium enterprises in Manitoba and for producers." One of the businesses that could benefit from the development of a natural hypertension pill is Nutri-Pea Ltd., a Portage la Prairie processor that manufacturers ingredients from yellow peas for food, animal nutrition, pharmaceutical and industrial purposes. The company has supplied Aluko with the raw materials he's used to produce his protein extract.

Fall 2008 - This edition of MaRS Landing's "The Satellite" discusses health research projects being conducted at the U or T on pulses by Drs. Anderson and Kendall.
http://marslanding.ca/useredits/db/files/newsletters/MaRS%20Fall%20SaTELLITE.pdf