Escola Superior de Biotecnologia
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- PULSE UP : promoting pulses in the portuguese agri-food system through children's dietsPublication . Vieira, Evla; Vasconcelos, Marta Wilton Pereira Leite de; Gomes, Ana Maria Pereira; Gil, Ana Maria Pissarra CoelhoPlant-based eating patterns are healthy and can decrease environmental impacts. When discussing sources of dietary plant protein, it is essential to consider the dry-harvested legume crops, known as pulses. Pulses are farm-to-fork actors that promote sustainability and healthy diets. When integrating cropping systems, pulses reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit area. Also, if animal protein is replaced in places of overconsumption, pulses can potentially mitigate the pressure on natural resources. Despite the critical function in food systems’ sustainability, the area growing pulses in Europe declined in the last sixty years, and consumption is around 2 to 8 kg per person-year when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommendation is 15 to 25 kg per person-year. In the face of this low consumption and given all benefits, identifying strategies and policies for promoting pulses in Europe's agri-food system should be among policymakers' top priorities. However, implementing changes requires many alterations in several sectors. Thus, taking specific measures directed to priority groups, such as children, may produce more assertive results. This thesis’s main objective is to develop and validate practical and viable solutions to promote pulses in the Portuguese agri-food system through children’s diets. First, a critical literature review on the measures that should stimulate pulses in children's diets was proceeded. Considering the feasibility and impact, two actions were selected to be developed. The chosen actions were to enrich a child's food with a pulse and pulse promotion in the school food environment. Regarding enriching children's diets with pulses, the first study helped select the pulse that is more suitable for developing the product. Next, a children’s yogurt enriched with lupin was developed and characterized in nutritional, rheological, and sensorial terms, and environmental impact was demonstrated. Also, metabolomic alterations were presented. Concerning pulse promotion in the school food environment, a guidance material for preschool teachers on promoting the consumption of pulses was prepared, and an online focus group was carried out to characterize the consumption of pulses in selected kindergartens and evaluate the material produced. The results in this thesis indicate that the enrichment of children's yogurts with lupin and the promotion of pulses in kindergartens are viable measures that can increase the demand and consumption of pulses. Enrich children’s yogurt with lupin is an alternative to produce a nutritious and perhaps functional product while it may drive a local pulse-based value chain. Additionally, promoting pulses in kindergartens by local procurement and actions that stimulate preschoolers’ consumption can favor domestic production with social and economic inclusion and help increment the habit of pulse consumption in the Portuguese population.