Effect of quenching on cookability of some food legumes

The cooking time of three varieties of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) were determined by sudden and rapid decrease in the temperature (quenching) of boiling cowpea seeds, by the addition of water at a lower temperature. The varieties of cowpea used were, ‘Sokoto white’, ‘Potesco white’ and ‘Ife brown’. The results showed that quenching with water at a temperature of about 62 °C produced the maximum reduction in the cooking time for all the varieties. ‘Sokoto white’ which exhibited the longest cooking time among the cowpea varieties considered showed about 29% reduction in total cooking time while ‘Ife brown’ with the shortest cooking time showed a percentage reduction of about 13%. When the study was extended to another legume, pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) which has a very long cooking time relative to most cowpea varieties, a 40% reduction in cooking time was observed. However, cooking the varieties with trona, ‘Sokoto white’ and ‘Ife brown’ showed 26% and 30% reduction in cooking time respectively, while the pigeon pea showed 25% reduction.