Optimization of Premilling Treatments to Enhance Milling Efficiency, Nutritional Quality, and Cooking Properties of Horse Gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum)

The rapid growth of global population and consequent rise in food demand have increased the interest in sustainable and alternative food options. Horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is one such highly nutritious pulse crop that is known for its climate-resilient nature and ability to grow under poor soil fertility. Although numerous international and national organizations have identified horse gram as a potential food source for the future, their commercial potential remains underutilized due to longer cooking times and the presence of antinutritional factors. Milling (seed coat removal) is considered a promising method to overcome such problems associated with whole pulses. The present investigation was thus aimed at increasing commercial viability of horse gram by optimizing premilling treatments to improve milling efficiency, nutritional quality, and cooking properties. Grains were subjected to different levels of wet milling (soaking 7–11 h and tempering 10–14 h), dry milling (mixing with oils and tempering 14–26 h), and enzymatic milling (pectinase, cellulase, xylanase, and their mixture in ratio 1:1:1 at 40–100 mg/100 g dry weight of horse gram). Among different treatments, optimum conditions for maximum dhal recovery (74.3%) were observed with a mixture of cellulase, pectinase, and xylanase enzymes in 1:1:1 ratio at the rate of 80 mg/100 g horse gram. Enzymatic milling also reduced the cooking time of horse gram by 38.9% during open pan cooking and 85.1% during pressure cooking and yielded dhal with the lowest levels of tannin (204.02 mg/100 g) and phytic acid (686.37 mg/100 g). Horse gram in the form of dhal can increase consumer acceptability of this underutilized pulse by making it more convenient, palatable, and digestible, thereby reducing the extra burden on traditional food crops.