Development of Snack Foods Using Manitoba Grown Dry Beans

Currently, most of the beans grown in Manitoba and other Canadian growing provinces are sold unprocessed into international markets. Beans and other pulses are known for their nutritional and health-promoting properties. Developing snack foods from Manitoba grown dry beans would benefit growers, processors and health-conscious consumers. This project will evaluate the potential use of different market class(es) and cultivar(s) of dry beans in snack food (e.g., crackers, cookies) applications. The research will focus on popular market class(es) of dry beans grown in Manitoba. The dry beans will be milled into flour and then screened based on colour, particle size, and chemical composition. The screened flours will be combined in different ratios to create a flour blend suitable for the development of snack foods. The developed snack food will be evaluated for important quality attributes in terms of sensory and nutritional information.  Roasting improved the appearance and palatability, as the beany flavours were considerably acceptable for the panellists. The developed snacks can be used as allergen-free ingredient to target the well positioned market trend.  Considering the health benefits of the beans, process and product developers could include the snacks in formulations to achieve nutrient balance and health claims.