Soaking water properties and pea (Pisum sativum) evaluation.

Marrowfat peas are a large seed size pea mainly cultivated in United Kingdom for the production of canned peas which involves the hydration of the seeds by soaking for an extended period of time prior to further processing. Soaking is an important step during legumes production however the property of water used is seldom monitored. This study evaluated the effect of varying soaking water temperature (15 vs. 20 ?C) and hardness (soft vs. hard) on hydration kinetics of Marrowfat peas (Pisum sativum). The effect of the pea variety used (Sakura, Kabuki or Maro) has been also considered. Parameters monitored were water hardness, electrical conductivity, turbidity, pH and Brix (%) of the soaking water after 16 hrs. Maximum shear force (texture) of peas. Results have shown that the pea variety had a strong impact on and correlation with the properties assessed, compared to water temperature and harness. Kabuki presented lower turbidity of the soaking water and higher hardness of soaked peas than Sakura and Maro. Furthermore, turbidity was positively correlated with soak ratio. Results have shown that turbidity, a parameter related with leaching of protein and starch during soaking, blanching or cooking, could be a good parameter to monitor during pea soaking in order to have a product with selected properties.