Application of extruded pea hulls in plant-based burger patties: effects on nutritional, textural, and sensory properties

The use of extruded pea hulls (EPH) in vegan bean burger patty formulation could allow to utilise by-product during pea protein processing, increase dietary fibre content, product yield and locally sourced ingredient use. Samples were made from white beans, bread crumbs, chia seeds, spices and EPH. Application of EPH in patties was formulated in two replacement strategies: (i) 25%, 50% and 75% substitution of bread crumbs, and (ii) 5%, 10% and 15% substitution of total ingredient weight with different EPH-to-water ratios. Moisture content, water activity, dietary fibre content and texture profile were evaluated. Sensory ratio scale was used to define firmness, flavour balance, pea flavour and sticky mouthfeel by an expert panel (n = 5). The impact of EPH on textural and sensory attributes varied with the substitution level and inclusion type. Higher EPH levels positively influenced total dietary fibre content of patties (P < 0.05). The substitution with EPH significantly affected such force-related texture attributes as hardness and adhesiveness (P < 0.05). A clear association was not found between instrumental hardness values and sensory perceptible firmness. The results indicate that EPH can be effectively incorporated in plant-based burger patty formulation at low to moderate inclusion levels (up to 50% substitution of breadcrumbs and up to 10% substitution of total ingredient weight, EPH-to-water ratio up to 1:1.5) to obtain value-added plant-based burger patties without compromising textural and sensory quality.