Babu Ram Pandey

Background and Objectives: The global demand for plant‐based proteins presents challenges in managing starch‐rich by‐products from the pulse protein processing industry. Pulse protein by‐products are defined as the starch‐rich, fiber‐rich, and nonprotein fractions generated during wet, dry, and hybrid pulse protein fractionation. Despite their substantial volume and potential as functional ingredients, these streams remain largely underutilized and are frequently relegated to low‐value applications such as animal feed. This review synthesizes existing knowledge on different fractionation methods to identify barriers to recovering food‐grade starch from pulse protein by‐products and evaluates emerging mild fractionation methods for sustainable valorization. Findings: The recovery of starch from pulse protein by‐products is constrained due to the structural complexity of pulse seeds and limitations in current fractionation technologies. Conventional wet fractionation yields high purity starch (> 90%), but is resource‐intensive, requiring substantial water and chemical inputs. In contrast, dry fractionation offers a more sustainable and resource‐efficient alternative, but its lower separation efficiency generally results in starch‐rich fractions of lower purity. Importantly, these fractions may retain desirable functional properties due to the preservation of native starch structures, although their heterogeneous composition may limit food applications requiring highly purified starch ingredients. Hybrid fractionation approaches, which combine dry and wet processing steps, can achieve higher purity than dry fractionation, but remain resource‐intensive. Mild fractionation emerges as a promising alternative that enables recovery of intermediate purity fractions (60%–90%), while preserving native starch functionality and reducing environmental impact through minimal chemical inputs and fewer washing cycles. However, the knowledge gap lies not in achieving purity, but in understanding the functional behavior of intermediate fractions in real food systems. Conclusions: A shift from purity‐driven to functionality‐driven recovery strategies is essential to fully harness the untapped potential of pulse starch by‐products. Optimizing fractionation processes and improving the understanding of intermediate fractions in food applications could transform these by‐products into high‐value functional ingredients. Significance and Novelty: This review integrates extraction technology with functional, nutritional, and sustainability dimensions, highlighting the potential of intermediate starch fractions. Addressing both purity and functionality barriers could transform these industrial by‐products into high‐value functional ingredients and support circular bioeconomy approaches in sustainable plant‐based food systems.

Soil salinity results in reduced productivity in field peas, making soil salinity tolerance a critical breeding objective. In this study, four pot experiments were carried out in semi-controlled environments over four consecutive years to assess the contribution of seedling vigour to salinity tolerance at the seedling stage. Split-plot designs were used to assess the effect of salt stress (sodium chloride solution at 16 dSm⁻¹) and control conditions. Extensive sets of advanced breeding lines were used in 2018–2020 to assess growth differences in relation to the treatment, with elemental analysis used on a subset of 15 lines in 2021. A salt tolerance index (STI) was defined as a proportion of shoot biomass under salt stress (DWstress) relative to the shoot dry weight under control (DWctrl). Visual scores of salt stress were recorded on a 1–10 scale (1 = tolerant, 10 = susceptible) from salt stress treatments. The consistent positive and significant correlations (p < 0.01) between shoot DWctrl and DWstress indicated that vigorous genotypes maintained higher shoot DWstress. Both the shoot DWctrl and shoot DWstress had negative and significant (p < 0.01) correlations with visual scores of salt stress. Shoot DWstress showed strong positive correlations with STI (p < 0.01). Both the shoot DWctrl and Shoot DWstress had negative correlations (p < 0.01) with shoot Na⁺ whereas shoot DWstress had a positive correlation (p < 0.05) with root Na⁺ concentration. The results indicated that seedling vigour (measured as shoot DWctrl) contributed to salinity tolerance by maintaining improved shoot DWstress, limiting Na⁺ deposition in shoot and enduring less tissue damage in field pea seedlings. Additional field evaluations are required to establish the correlations of tolerance at seedling stage with yield under saline conditions. The insights obtained from this study may assist field pea breeders in identifying salt-tolerant parent plants, offspring, and breeding lines during the initial growth phases.

Two glasshouse and two field experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2014 to compare the relative importance of four physiological traits: osmotic adjustment (OA), leaf proline concentration, canopy temperature depression (CTD) and root depth on drought performance of canola quality B. juncea (juncea canola). Glasshouse experiments were conducted at The University of Melbourne, Parkville, and field experiments were conducted at Horsham, Victoria. The experiments used juncea canola hybrids and their parental lines and were laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replications. The glasshouse experiments consisted of two treatments, well watered and water deficit from first open flower to maturity, whereas the field experiments were sown at a site that received 266 mm annual rainfall in 2014. In the glasshouse, canopy temperature depression was the only trait to show a positive and consistent association with drought performance of juncea canola. Cooler canopy temperature was also associated with improved yield in field experiments. Root depth was positively correlated with CTD in 2014 in glasshouse, whereas no correlation of root depth with OA and leaf proline was observed. The results indicated that CTD was the only reliable trait among those tested to screen juncea canola for drought tolerance. Root depth of juncea canola hybrids was a constitutive trait and probably was a result of hybrid vigour.