Underutilized Legumes as Future Functional Foods: Nutritional Quality, Processing Technologies, Bioactive Compounds and Health Potential

Underutilized legumes represent an important but relatively neglected group of food crops with considerable potential for improving dietary diversity, food security, and sustainable nutrition. Legumes such as bambara groundnut, horse gram, moth bean, cowpea, winged bean, black gram, and lima bean provide proteins, dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and other bioactive constituents. Their ability to tolerate diverse environmental conditions further increases their relevance for resilient food systems. Traditional processing methods including soaking, germination, cooking, fermentation, and roasting can improve digestibility, reduce antinutritional factors, and modify bioactive compounds. Modern technologies such as extrusion, enzymatic treatment, protein fractionation, and encapsulation provide additional opportunities for developing functional ingredients and value-added foods. Underutilized legumes can be incorporated into bakery products, snacks, beverages, plant-based protein foods, and gluten-free formulations. This highlights their nutritional quality, bioactive potential, processing technologies, health-related properties, and opportunities for their development as future functional food ingredients