EVALUATION OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF COWPEA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD PRODUCTS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a legume of great socioeconomic relevance in several regions. With the growing demand for healthy foods, cowpea has been gaining prominence as a functional ingredient for the development of food products due to its nutritional profile. The development of products with regional raw materials, such as cowpeas, brings significant benefits to the local economy, public health, and sustainability. Therefore, this review article aims to summarize recent advances in the development of food products with cowpeas, highlighting its technological, nutritional, and sensory characteristics, in addition to identifying gaps and future research opportunities. The bibliographic search was carried out in the SciELO, CAPES Journals, Google Scholar, and institutional repositories such as Embrapa databases. Articles published between 2015 and 2024, written in Portuguese and English, and meeting some inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered. In total, 9 articles met the criteria and were analyzed qualitatively, focusing on the characteristics of the products developed, study objectives, main results, and conclusions. In general, the articles show that cowpea is a regional raw material that is expanding in the market, improving the nutritional characteristics of products, obtaining good sensory acceptance, and with excellent strategic potential to meet the needs of plant-based food production. Despite these advances, some challenges still limit the widespread adoption of cowpeas in the industry. Additional studies are needed to better understand how cowpea flour interacts with other ingredients in different food matrices, especially in ultra-processed products.