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Substituting wheat with chickpea flour in pasta production delivers more nutrition at a lower environmental cost

2020Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorSaget, Sophie
dc.contributor.authorCosta, Marcela
dc.contributor.authorBarilli, Eleonora
dc.contributor.authorVasconcelos, Marta Wilton de
dc.contributor.authorSantos, Carla Sancho
dc.contributor.authorStyles, David
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Mike
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-27T11:07:45Z
dc.date.available2020-07-27T11:07:45Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractThe modern food system is characterised by 1) unsustainable agricultural practices, heavily dependent on agrochemical inputs and leaking large amounts of reactive nitrogen (N) whilst degrading soils, and 2) the consumption of energy-rich but nutrient-poor foods, contributing to non-communicable diseases related to malnutrition. Substituting cereals with low-input, protein- and fibre-rich legumes in the production of mainstream foods offers a promising solution to both issues. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a leguminous crop that can be grown with little or no synthetic N fertiliser. We performed life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental footprint of pasta made from chickpeas with conventional pasta made from durum wheat (Triticum durum) from cradle to fork. Two functional units were used, an 80g serving of pasta, and a Nutrient Density Unit (NDU). Environmental burdens per serving were smaller for chickpea pasta across at least 10 of the 16 impact categories evaluated. Global warming, resource use minerals and metals, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, and terrestrial eutrophication burdens were smaller than those of durum wheat pasta by up to 45%, 55%, 50%, 86%, and 76%, respectively. Cooked chickpea pasta contains 1.5 more protein, 3.2 times more fibre and 8 times more essential fatty acids than cooked durum wheat pasta per kcal energy content. Thus, the environmental advantage of chickpea pasta extended to 15 of the 16 impact categories when footprints were compared per unit of nutrition. Global warming, resource use and eutrophication burdens per NDU were 79–95% smaller for chickpea pasta than for durum wheat pasta. The one major trade-off was land use, where chickpea pasta had a burden 200% higher per serving, or 17% higher per NDU, than wheat pasta. We conclude that there is high potential to simultaneously improve the environmental sustainability and nutritional quality of food chains through simple substitution of cereals with legumes in staple foods such as pasta. Breeding and agronomic management improvements for legumes could reduce the yield gap with cereals, mitigating the land use penalty. Meanwhile, the higher protein content of chickpea pasta could contribute towards wider environmental benefits via animal protein substitution in diets, and merits further investigation. Consumers who look for the traditional taste and texture of wheat pasta can achieve these aspects by cooking the chickpea pasta al dente and combining it with a typical pasta sauce, which will hide its subtle nutty taste.pt_PT
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionpt_PT
dc.identifier.citationSaget, S., Costa, M., Barilli, E., Vasconcelos, M.W., Santos, C. S., Styles, D., Williams, M. (2020). Substituting wheat with chickpea flour in pasta production delivers more nutrition at a lower environmental cost. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 24, 26-38pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.spc.2020.06.012pt_PT
dc.identifier.eid85087206956
dc.identifier.eissn2352-5509
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/30803
dc.identifier.wos000582731100003
dc.language.isoengpt_PT
dc.peerreviewedyespt_PT
dc.publisherElsevierpt_PT
dc.relationCentre for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectChickpeapt_PT
dc.subjectLegumespt_PT
dc.subjectLife cycle assessmentpt_PT
dc.subjectFood sustainabilitypt_PT
dc.subjectNutritionpt_PT
dc.titleSubstituting wheat with chickpea flour in pasta production delivers more nutrition at a lower environmental costpt_PT
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleCentre for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UID%2FMulti%2F50016%2F2019/PT
oaire.citation.endPage38pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage26pt_PT
oaire.citation.titleSustainable Production and Consumptionpt_PT
oaire.citation.volume24pt_PT
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
person.familyNameVasconcelos
person.familyNameSancho dos Santos
person.givenNameMarta
person.givenNameCarla
person.identifier74696
person.identifier211408
person.identifier.ciencia-idF715-AACD-9820
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-5110-7006
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-6708-5550
person.identifier.ridI-8166-2013
person.identifier.scopus-author-id14627797100
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
rcaap.rightsopenAccesspt_PT
rcaap.typearticlept_PT
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication00a4c1fc-814e-400c-8bfd-4680cff6deb1
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoverydf60ebb4-3b71-4733-a9e3-bfa4687f5576
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