(P16-018-23) Exploring Yellow Pea Protein (Pisum sativum) in Adults and Children: A Systematic Review of Peer-Reviewed Clinical Studies

Objectives: Yellow pea is a plant-based protein consumed for its protein quality and highly digestible source of essential amino acids. It has low allergenicity and is not one of the 8 common food allergens. Yellow pea protein has benefits for heart health, blood pressure, kidney health, tolerance in medical feedings and support of muscle synthesis and maintenance over the lifecycle. The objective of this review was to identify and summarize peer-reviewed clinical trials that evaluated benefits of yellow pea protein in humans.

Methods: A comprehensive search with databases Google Scholar, Science Direct, Web of Science, and PubMed were used to perform systematic literature searches over the month of February 2023. Key words and subject headings were yellow pea proteins, pea proteins, clinical studies, adult, child, and protein quality (MeSH term) to generate an initial list of peer reviewed published articles. The search included original, randomized controlled trials. Eligible articles reported on children and adults that used a yellow pea protein-based food vehicle. Publication years, population age and sex, and geographical location were not restricted. We defined yellow pea protein consumption by anyone who consumed it for a snack, meal, or multiple meals and days. Studies were limited to yellow pea protein consumption to include common ingredients as isolate, hydrolysate or flour.

Results: Of the 376 articles identified, 21 studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty studies were in healthy adults and one in female children with stunted growth. Most of the trials were in the category of glycemia and satiety (11) followed by protein quality and digestibility (4), muscle health and body weight (3), blood pressure (2) and appetite(1).

Conclusions: Our review of the literature demonstrates yellow pea protein is a quality source of plant-based protein supported by studies in healthy individuals. Benefits for glycemia, satiety, muscle heath, body weight, blood pressure and appetite were reported health outcomes in reviewed trials. Future opportunity exists to further evaluate pea protein's benefits, and to understand the benefits of pea protein hydrolysate vs intact pea protein. In addition, developing evidence-based health claims would assist in educating professionals and consumers.

Funding Sources: Kate Farms LLC