Transitioning Australian pulses into protein-based food industries

Transitioning Australian pulses into protein-based food industries

AEGIC is establishing a pilot-scale plant to further develop processing methods for pulse protein ingredients. Ingredients are evaluated for nutritional composition, protein functionality, protein quality, rheology, and sensory and shelf-life attributes.

Dr Daniel Skylas, Senior Research Scientist is supporting work that focuses on optimising processes and design to achieve suitable texture and quality attributes (flavour, mouthfeel, industrial manufacturing requirements, and consumer preference). Dry processing methods are being explored to potentially achieve significant efficiencies by using less water and energy.

Completed (March 2025)

• We commissioned AEGIC’s new dry fractionation equipment and validated the performance of the equipment through conducting a series of trials on several pulses with great results.
• We presented our research in an online meeting to a major food company’s R&D team as part of the Global Innovation Linkages Program (October 2024).
• We presented an overview of our research at the third and final Annual Workshop for the Global Innovation Linkages Program, which was held in person at the University of Sydney (December 2024).
• We completed our final report and submitted this to the Global Innovation Linkages Program (November 2024).
• Our latest research paper was published in the journal Cereal Chemistry, which was titled “Improving the Nutritional Quality of Instant Noodles Made from Wheat Flour Using Dry and Wet Fractionated Mungbean Protein Ingredients” (January 2025).
• Our collaborative review paper with the University of Sydney was published in the journal Foods, which was titled “Pulse Protein: Processing, Nutrition, and Functionality in Foods (March 2025).

Scheduled (by June 2025)

• We continue to support the Global Innovation Linkages PhD students whose projects are still running.
• We will conduct dry fractionation trials on germinated pulse seed material.

More information

Effect of dry and wet fractionation on nutritional and physicochemical properties of faba bean and yellow pea protein. Legume Science, 6(2).

Techno functional properties of dry and wet fractionated pulse protein ingredients. Legume Science, 6(4).

AEGIC presentation: Pulse protein update Annual Workshop for Global Innovation Linkages Program (2023)

AEGIC video: World pulse day: mung bean protein concentrate (2023)

GIL research paper

Skylas, D. J., Whiteway, C., Webster, T., Messina, V., Richard, S., Siah, S. D., and Quail, K. J. (2025), Improving the Nutritional Quality of Instant Noodles Made from Wheat Flour Using Dry and Wet Fractionated Mungbean Protein Ingredients. Cereal Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10869

GIL review paper

Messina, V., Skylas, D. J., Roberts, T. H., Valtchev, P., Whiteway, C., Li, Z., Hopf, A., Dehghani, F., Quail, K. J., & Kaiser, B. N. (2025). Pulse Proteins: Processing, Nutrition, and Functionality in Foods. Foods, 14(7), 1151. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14071151

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