Would you consider starting your day with a bowl of chickpeas?
That could soon be an option on morning menus as research is underway to turn chickpeas into breakfast flakes.
Charles Sturt University researcher Stephen Cork, who is based in Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, wants to take a bite out of the $33 billion dollar global breakfast cereal market.
He has found chickpeas, which are from the pulse family, are ticking a lot boxes for health benefits.
What are chickpeas and why are they healthy?
Chickpeas are a legume (the dry edible seeds from the plants pod) that pack 20 per cent protein, which is twice the amount of many cereals.
Mr Cork said they were also rich in fibre, gluten-free and have a low glycemic index, giving a longer burn during the day and making them a good alternative to oats.
For chickpea flakes to become mainstream they need a catchy name.
Mr Cork says marketers have plenty to work with but his pick is "Chicky Flakes".
The taste of the chickpea flakes is determined by the way they are cooked.
"It varies from quite a green, grassy flavour if you don't cook them very much, and they have a more brown, earthy flavour if you cook them a bit longer," Mr Cork said.
He said chickpea flakes offered another flavour and texture experience to consumers who are commonly eating rice and corn in breakfast cereals.
What happened to bean flakes?
It's not the first time pulses have been trialled as a ready-to-eat breakfast option.
In the early 1900s when cornflakes were being developed, bean flakes were also a thing.
"But for some reason we are not eating pulse bean flakes, are we?" Mr Cork said.
"So what we are trying to understand is how to overcome some of the problems of flavour, digestibility and structure there have been with pulses in the past so new products can be developed."
Is this just another hipster trend?
Mr Cork believes chickpeas flakes aren't just another food fad.
"There has been a shift in the Australian diet and what we understand as a good, healthy, nutritious diet, and I think chickpeas provide a very good option for people looking to ancient grains," he said.
"Pulses have been part of the diet since the dawn of time, and chickpea flakes are a way of diversifying our diet a bit further with a nutritious product."
Mr Cork said if breakfast cereal manufacturers like how they taste, then chickpea flakes could be on the shelves in just over a year.
