The main aim of the German CICS#5 (Co-innovation Case Study) is to tackle processing barriers and create solutions and knowledge on the cultivation, milling and baking of wheat grown as an intercrop with pea. The German CIC#5 is a partnership between the University of Kassel, the organic baker’s association “Die Freien Bäcker” and “Atelier Ernährungswende”, as well as 25 project actors including 9 farmers, 5 mills and 10 bakers arranged within seven regional organic value chains across Germany. The focus of CICS#5 is the evaluation and optimisation of grain separation, improvement of baking quality, as well as the optimisation of milling and baking processes of wheat from an intercropped system. Although the main focus is on wheat, the CICS actors are also very interested in developing a market for the secondary crop of pea through new product development.
Results and activities in the mill and bakery
In the 2023/24 season, a total of 17 tons of baking wheat (grown in an intercrop with pea) could be harvested. This intercropped wheat was then baked in a baking campaign that ran for eight weeks in February and March 2025. To prepare both millers and bakers for the baking campaign, which involved possible changes in milling and baking performance in the presence of different pea proportions, we analysed not only the mineral content of flour, and the volume of bread using different flour types, but also conducted a blind sensory testing with participating bakeries.
To do this, we prepared various wheat samples with different pea proportions (0 (as the control), 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 % peas) to analyse the mineral content (relevant for millers) as well as the baking performance and sensory properties (relevant for bakers) (photo 1).
Mineral content in flour
In Germany, the DIN 10.355 standard for the classification of milled products has been in force since 1992. This standard specifies the classification of flour type depending on the mineral content per 100g of flour. The results of our various samples indicate that the flour mineral content increases already with a pea proportion of 3% in the wheat, indicating that the flour type classification would accordingly change from flour type 550 (T550) to flour type 812 (T812) (Table 1).
Table 1: Mineral content in grams per 100 g flour and associated flour type depending on pea proportion (e.g. 93:7 – 93 % wheat and 7 % pea, control is 100 % wheat).
For baking, this should not make too much difference, but it is important to note that bakers cannot expect to get a T550 flour if there is more than 3% peas in the wheat, as peas have a higher mineral content. Above all, this emphasises the need for communication between millers and bakers, especially with regard to possible changes in the classification of flour types in relation to wheat-pea blends!
Baking performance with different pea proportions
The results of the baking tests (both a rapid mix test and a practice-oriented optimised baking test) for whole meal flour and refined flour (T550) show no significant differences in baking volume with the addition of up to 10 % pea flour (Figure 2). In addition, many bakers commented on the emulsifying properties of the pea and the higher water absorption capacity during the bakers’ workshop, which took place over the weekend of 6-7 April 2024 at the Backwerk bakery in Hanover (https://www.backwerk.bio/). The bakers agreed that flour with a higher proportion of peas can absorb more water and that a pea content of up to 5% in wheat flour is absolutely unproblematic in terms of baking processes and performance.
Sensory testing
During the bakers’ workshop in Hanover, the bakers were also subject to a blind sensory test using the partial napping method (22 bakers in total). This sensory test consisted of a blind tasting of five bread samples containing different proportions of peas (0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 %). The bakers were given a sheet of paper (60 x 40 cm) and asked to arrange the bread samples according to their sensory similarity (i.e. breads that tasted similar were placed closer together than breads that tasted different). Once the bread samples were arranged, the bakers were also asked to describe the flavour of the bread samples and their grouping (photo 2). The location of the different bread samples on each sheet of paper was recorded as both x and y-coordinates and the results were analysed using a multivariate analysis.
The results of the sensory testing show that it was not possible to differentiate between the bread samples with 0, 1, 3 and 5 % peas (as indicated by the fact that these samples were found close to each other, i.e. samples with 0 and 3 % peas were very close to each other and samples with 1 % and 5 % peas were close to each other according to the bakers) (Figure 3). Only the sample with a proportion of 7% pea stands out from the other samples and is associated with the flavours salty and spicy (flavour attributes are marked in green, and the closer the flavour attribute is to a bread sample, the greater the association) (Figure 3).
These sensory results confirm the feedback from bakers that the addition of 5% pea to wheat flour is unproblematic in terms of baking performance and sensory profile for baking. However, the finding that bread with the addition of 7% pea has a salty and spicy (savoury) sensory profile is particularly interesting for further investigation and we wonder if this is due to the following:
1) a higher mineral content due to the higher pea content
2) the fact that pea protein is a good emulsifier and as such has a higher water absorption capacity. Since the bread recipe was not adjusted in terms of water content and each bread was made according to the same recipe, would the addition of larger amounts of water depending on the pea content most likely reduce the saltiness?
3) Different amino acids in peas and their effects on sensory properties.
Whatever the reason, it might also be interesting to consider the addition of pea flour as an option to reduce the salt content in baked goods😊 Based on these interesting results, we are currently working on further sensory testing to reduce the salt content in bread, as well as on recipes to include higher percentages of pea in baked goods. We will keep you updated in our next article!
This news item was written by Odette Weedon (University of Kassel, Germany)