Pulses are considered an economical source of protein for the vast vegetarian population of India. To improve culinary properties, pulses are often consumed in the form of dal after dehusking and splitting. The process of husk removal is referred to as pulse milling. Pulse milling is the country's third largest food processing industry after wheat and paddy processing industries. In the case of pulses, the outer seed coat is tightly attached to the cotyledons due to the presence of gummy layers. Pre-milling treatments are given to loosen the seed coat. At cottage scale pulse, water soaking followed by sun-drying for two to three days is the most prevalent pre-treatment. Afterwards, the treated grains are milled in stone chakkies to obtain dal. In the water-soaking process, discolouration and cup formation take place, which reduces the market value of the end produce. Hence, in commercial scale pulse milling, oil and water pre-treatment is followed across the country. In large capacity mills, dehusking is performed in abrasive emery/carborundum rollers. To achieve maximum dehusking, grains are passed over abrasive surfaces in multiple passes. Subsequently, the outer layer of cotyledons gets scratched and mixed with the husk to produce the pulse milling by-product.

A study was conducted to identify the food value i.e. protein, phenol, antioxidant value, fiber and calorific values of the milling by-product and its fractions obtained from different pulses, i.e., pigeon pea, chickpea, lentil, black gram, green gram, and field pea were determined. The study indicated that the pulse milling by-product has a significant amount of these bioactive compounds and can potentially be utilized for edible purposes. Bioactive compounds of pigeon pea whole grain, dal, milling by-product, its husk and powder fractions are shown in Table 1. Similarly, other pulses and their by-products were also evaluated for the bioactive compounds.

The milling by-product obtained from pulses is commonly utilized as an ingredient in cattle feed. However, nutritionally rich pulse milling by-product can be used to develop value-added products, which can help millers to generate remunerative prices from the by-product. About 30% of the powdered component can easily be separated by fractionation of milling by-product using sifters and sieves of appropriate sizes. The powdered fraction can be utilized as a source of protein to make various traditional and continental edible products. Thus, this milling by-product can be utilized for edible purposes to fetch better market prices. Various secondary and tertiary processed edible products, such as biscuits, cakes, buns, pizza bases, noodles, nachos, dal analogue, etc. can be made from pulse milling by-product.

The powdered component extracted from the milling by-product can be used as a substitute to besan or dal powder to make traditional recipes such halwa, dal, soup, idli, etc. Husk fraction being rich in water insoluble fibres and phenols can find health and therapeutic applications. Efforts are being made to develop awareness among pulse millers, processors and pharmaceutical industries to utilize pulse milling by-products for human consumption.