Strong protein partner: GoodMills Innovation

Sybille Kautz
Senior Manager Nutrition
GoodMills Innovation

Kerstin Burseg
Head of Research & Product Development
GoodMills Innovation

GoodMills Innovation assumed responsibility for B2B sales, marketing and applications-related activities for Müller’s Mühle products in October last year. This has extended the Hamburg-based innovation expert’s plant-based textures range to include legume flours made from red lentils, yellow peas, fava beans and chickpeas.

We spoke to food and nutrition experts Kerstin Burseg and Sybille Kautz about flours made from legumes, and why GoodMills has turned to a traditional production method.

What are the nutritional benefits of legumes?
Sybille Kautz: Legumes are the seeds of plants that mature in pods, such as lentils, peas, chickpeas, lupines and soya beans. They contain the highest levels of protein of all plants and lots of dietary fibre – that’s what makes them so nutritious and filling.

Kerstin Burseg: Cultivating them is also highly sustainable, because they naturally enrich the soil with additional nitrogen. Which means they’re a source of green fertiliser when used in crop rotation.

How can lentils, peas and the like be turned into flour?
Burseg: Once the husks have been removed, the legumes are coarsely crushed and then finely ground. This is followed by a process called air sifting, which more or less completely separates out the parts that are rich in protein and starch. It’s a traditional process where the flour passes through an air stream in a wind tunnel and is broken down mechanically into its component parts with the help of gravity and centrifugal force. Our SMART^® Pulses Pro products are high in protein, while the PURAFARIN^® Pulses range contains more starch.
Kautz: On top of that, air sifting is more sustainable than extraction processes that use lots of water and energy for washing and concentration.

How are these flours processed in the industry?
Kautz: In lots of different ways. Field bean protein can be used in vegan meat and fish alternatives to provide texture. High-protein flours can be used to make protein bread. Starch-rich flours are ideal for crackers and crisps. And native flour, which isn’t air sifted – like our SMART^® Pulses – is perfect for pasta or coatings.

Can these flours also bring something extra to classic baked goods?
Burseg: They give long-life baked goods like biscuits and crispbreads added crispiness, and chickpeas can replace eggs as an emulsifier in vegan doughs. In yeast-raised baked goods, up to 10% of the conventional flour can be substituted to produce higher-protein and more nutrient-rich products.

What target groups should producers be aiming for with these products?
Kautz: Basically anyone who wants to follow a healthy and sustainable diet, people who don’t eat animal-based products, or flexitarians who are looking to cut their consumption of animal proteins. And we mustn’t forget people with allergies, because our legume flours aren’t subject to the mandatory labelling requirements for main allergens.

“Legumes are doubly sustainable," says Kerstin Burseg, Head of Research & Product Development at GoodMills Innovation. "Firstly in their cultivation and also thanks to the careful production of high-protein, high-starch flour varieties using air sifting,” adds Sybille Kautz, Senior Manager Nutrition at GoodMills Innovation.