What is a Pulse?

Pulses are what we call the family of crops that are edible seeds of a legume.  These crops include lentils, dry peas, chickpeas, and beans.

In Saskatchewan, our farmers grow 99 per cent of Canada's lentil and chickpea crops and 67 per cent of Canada's dry pea crop.

Lentils

Lentil's come in a variety of sizes ranging from extra small to large.  The most common found lentils on grocery store shelves are large green lentils and split red lentils. When we use the word split to describe a lentil it means that the seed coat around the lentil has been removed and the inner part of the lentil (known as the cotlyedon) has been split in half.  Split lentils cook faster than whole lentils and are excellent for use in puree, as where whole lentils tend to work better in salads.

The picture below shows whole red lentils (top left), split red lentils (top right), whole green lentils (bottom left), and split green lentils (bottom right).

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are available into different forms known as kabuli and desi. Kabuli have a light seed colour while desi's have a dark brown seed colour.  Kabuli chickpeas are the most  commonly found on grocery store shelves in North America.

The picture below shows desi chickpeas (left) and kabuli chickpeas (right).

Dry Peas

Dry peas are typically grown in two different forms, either as yellow or as  green peas.  Similar to lentils, peas are often available split as well which means the seed coat (known as a hull when talking about peas) around the pea has been removed and the inner part of the pea (known as the cotlyedon) has been split in half. The seed coat (hull) that remains after splitting the peas is often used to create other value added products such as pea fibre and pea starch, which can be utilized in human and pet food products.

The picture below shows whole green peas (top left), split green peas (top right), whole yellow peas (bottom left), and split yellow peas (bottom right).

Beans

Saskatchewan is only a small producer of beans in one specific area of the province.  The majority of Canada's beans are produced in Manitoba and Ontario.  The beans that we do produce in Saskatchewan are the pinto bean and the black bean.

The picture below shows pinto beans (left) and black beans (right).