Temperature guided foam stability, structure and texture of pulse nugget: Exploring traditional food physics for aerated batter applications

This paper revamps the traditional knowledge of pulse nugget (PN) preparation by exploring the impact of moisture and temperature on batter aeration, rheology, spreadability and physicochemical properties (texture, and colour) of dried PN. Black gram (Vigna mungo) was soaked in water for 10 h, grounded into the batter at 960 rpm for 8 min, and subjected to various moisture content (60–70 %), temperature (10–70 °C), and whipping process to produce aerated-pulse-batter (APB). The APB was deposited as 3D conical model geometry using a manual deposition and sun-dried (14 h, 20 °C and RH of 60 %) to produce PN. APB's temperature-guided foaming and viscoelastic behavior explore key aspects of aerated foam dispensing, its spreadability, and the physicochemical properties of dried PN. The temperature inversely impacts APB's viscosity, admitting the Carreau model with a temperature-sensitive term. During PN molding, batter's spreadability increased with temperature and moisture content, showing high radial growth (Δr) and a decrease in calculated height (h_t). The molded PNs with an optimal moisture content and temperature of 60 ± 2 % and 20 ± 2 °C demonstrated superior stability, air pocket visibility, and dried PN's texture and colour. Therefore, the batter's moisture content and temperature should be considered while developing a mechanized system for PN processing, such as 3D printing (3DP).