Can we create nutritious and sustainable yoghurt from legumes?

Faba bean is a nutrient dense and drought tolerant legume crop with a great potential as a sustainable protein source.

However, faba bean remains a minor component of the western diet partly due to the present of antinutrients.

Antinutrients present in faba bean can interfere with the absorption and metabolism of some nutrients and may lead to adverse health consequences. Reduction or elimination of some antinutrient compounds are needed to improve nutritional quality of faba bean-based food products. 

Food processing can affect antinutrients content of plant-based food. This project aims to investigate the impact of fermentation on the levels of antinutrients and bioactive compounds in yoghurt produced using faba beans.

You will be involved in the selection of start cultures with the ability to reduce antinutrients and produce bioactive compounds; developing a new yoghurt product using faba bean and faba bean protein; and assessing different fermentation conditions on microbial, nutritional, and sensory profiles of the resulting yoghurts.

The project will also involve fortification of the yoghurt with functional ingredients to enhance their health benefits.

A scholarship is available from the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine for this project.