Functional properties of select seed flours

- First comparison of cereals, dry beans, and oilseeds.
- First comparison of functional properties of full and defatted flours.
- Laboratory and USDA data compared for the seed flours.
- First comparison of gelation concentrations of cereals, dry beans, and oilseeds.

Proximate composition of select commercially sold cereal, oilseed, dry bean, and tree nut seeds was determined. Full fat and defatted seed flours were evaluated for their color, bulk density, Water Holding Capacity (WHC), Oil Holding Capacity (OHC), and Least Gelation Concentration (LGC). On a dry weight basis (dwb), rice, wheat, pearl millet, black gram, chickpea, and soybean flours registered higher moisture content among the tested seeds. Seed protein content (dwb) ranged from 7.79 ± 0.72 g/100 g (rice) to 31.48 ± 0.76 g/100 g (soybean). On a dwb, rice (1.23 ± 0.07 g/100 g) and macadamia (67.63 ± 0.04 g/100 g) registered the lowest and the highest amount of lipid. Defatting typically improved flour lightness as indicated by an increase in the L∗ value as compared to the corresponding full fat flour. Upon defatting, bulk density of the tested flours decreased. Under the experimental conditions, WHC of full fat flours (range 0.66 ± 0.11-2.97 ± 0.02 g/g improved upon defatting (range 1.48 ± 0.00-3.53 ± 0.02 g/g). OHC of full fat flours (range 0.64 ± 0.14-1.44 ± 0.07 g/g) increased upon defatting (range 1.00 ± 0.12-3.40 ± 0.46 g/g). LGC of the tested flours ranged from 8 g/100 mL-18 g/100 mL.