Abstract
Background: Legumes are an important source of plant-based protein that are known to provide many beneficial health effects, but their global consumption is low. Thus, processing legumes to improve their protein digestibility and incorporating them into commonly consumed foods could be a useful strategy to increase legume consumption and obtain the nutritional benefits, including increased protein intake and enhanced satiety. Scope and approach: This review highlights various food processing techniques that can be utilised to enhance the digestibility of legume protein, particularly when used to enrich food products. Whether such a strategy benefits metabolic health, satiety perception, and postprandial hormone responses to such foods is then evaluated. Finally, consumer acceptance of legume-based food products is examined. Key findings and conclusions: Food processing techniques can be used to enhance the digestibility of legume protein, and this effect is evident when incorporating legume proteins into food products. The increased levels of protein in such foods are found to be more satiating by consumers, while also eliciting improved postprandial hormone responses, suggesting they would aid in improving metabolic health. The incorporation of legumes into foods may reduce the consumer acceptance of such products. However, by utilizing a combination of food processing techniques, the sensory properties of legumes can be effectively manipulated to improve the acceptability of legume-enriched food products. Thus, the incorporation of legume protein into foods appears to be a viable strategy to encourage legume consumption and improve overall health.