The Brine-Grading of Pigeonpeas

Abstract

The possibility of using brine-grading to improve the quality of canned pigeonpeas by separating the overmature yellow from the more tender green pigeonpeas was investigated. The results obtained show that brine-grading separated pigeonpeas into two groups, floaters and sinkers, the floaters being less developed than the sinkers, which were the more mature, but failed completely to separate the overmature yellow peas from the green. Failure to separate the overmature yellow peas from the green occurred because green and overripe yellow pigeonpeas, although having a different starch content, apparently have similar specific gravity, and may float or sink together in a brine of any given specific gravity, making a clear-cut separation between the two groups impossible. The results from this work suggest that brine-grading is of doubtful value as a quality-control measure in the canning of pigeonpeas because a high percentage of sinkers is generally obtained, which, when canned, result either in a low-C grade or a substandard product.