Upcycling Pulse Milling Byproducts into Value-added Bakery Products: Development of Functional Buns

Lentil milling produces byproducts that contain potentially useful food components, although their application in bun formulations remains insufficiently characterised. This study evaluated the incorporation of powder recovered from lentil milling byproducts into buns prepared with refined wheat flour. Six formulations were prepared by replacing refined wheat flour with lentil byproduct powder at 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% (S0–S5). The resulting buns were evaluated for physical characteristics, texture, colour, moisture content, protein content, total phenolic content, gross energy and sensory properties. Weight loss declined from 15.20% in the control (S0) to 8.30% in S5, whereas true density increased from 0.65 to 0.88 g/cm³. Bun height decreased from 43.4 mm in S0 to 25.8 mm in S5, while peak force increased from 1,664 to 4,991 g. Protein content increased from 1.80% in S0 to 8.35% in S5, and total phenolic content also increased with the proportion of lentil byproduct powder. The overall acceptability scores were 8.8 for the control and 8.6 for S2, with S2 achieving the highest score among the supplemented formulations. These findings indicate that substituting 40% of refined wheat flour with lentil milling byproduct powder produced buns with favourable sensory acceptability while increasing their measured protein and total phenolic contents. Higher substitution levels altered physical and sensory characteristics and warrant further formulation assessment.