The JACK project, led by ESA, aims to promote the adoption of pulses from consumers and chefs to producers

A multidisciplinary team will spend four years of research to valorize  pulses through a gastronomic approach coupled with a better understanding of their agronomic, nutritional, functional, sensorial and environmental qualities. Sixteen private and public partners, more than fifty contributors including four doctoral students, post-doc and, several hundred consumers and farmers’ networks will be mobilized throughout this project, which is funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through France 2030 investments.

Pulses, sources of vegetable proteins, are under-consumed and under-produced in France. JACK aims to bring added- value from the consumer to the farm, based on an original gastronomic approach which magnifies the products and enhances their value in a very creative and innovative way. This approach aims to change the image of pulses, and consumers’ food behavior at home, thanks to gastronomic multi-sensory experiences.

Similarly, the identification of different culinary techniques to enhance the value of pulses will make it possible to measure the functional qualities of pulses, which are not well known. Indeed, their diversity has so far been little studied and undesirable criteria such as anti-nutritional factors have been explored more than desirable functional properties, and more often to replace meat or dairy products. In addition, the impact of agronomic and soil-climate factors on seed quality will be investigated. In parallel, an environmental assessment of production and processing will be developed.

JACK’s ambition is to remove barriers: to identify action levers for a sustainable change in dietary behaviour, to measure the link between the quality of pulses and their culinary functions by identifying physico-chemical variables, to identify the agronomic and varietal factors influencing culinary quality, to quantify the environmental impact of production and processing, to maintain environmental benefits throughout the processing chain. The project will start with both the creation of innovative recipes by chefs and the collection of a wide variety of field samples of pulses with a characterized technical itinerary. The recipes will be simplified into model foods, used for culinarity assessment, and in parallel developed and industrialised. New ingredient and product concepts will be co-designed with chefs and co-producers.

Project partners :

Dates: 2 November 2022 to 1 May 2027

– Funding: The project is funded by a grant managed by the French National Research Agency under France 2030 – ANR-22-PLEG-0001

– Project led by ESA

– Contact at GRAPPE: Isabelle MAITRE, project leader i.maitre@groupe-esa.com

– Contact at LEVA: Guillaume PIVA g.piva@groupe-esa.com