17.09.2025
NICHE CROPS are cultivated plants that are popular only in a limited segment of the consumer market, but they are quite perspective. For example, lentils are considered a niche crop because this agricultural plant is grown in small quantities for a narrow, specific market, but at the same time has high demand and profitability due to limited supply. Previously, it could be argued that this culture was not exclusive and was not widespread. But is that really the case now? - Sure, lentils aren't as prevalent as wheat, for example. Today, niche crops, including lentils, are attracting increased consumer interest.
TREND OR REAL BENEFIT?
Let's consider lentils from a consumer viewpoint. This legume is a nutritious and universal product with a number of advantages: it is rich in protein and fibre, beneficial for health and the cardiovascular system. Lentils have a long history dating over thousands of years. Its origin is the Middle East and Southern Europe, as this crop easily adapts to dry conditions thanks to its deep root system. Today, for countries with rapidly growing populations in Asia and the Middle East, this crop is an important product that replaces bread, grains, and even meat in terms of nutritional value! Therefore, lentils are at all in line with the trend towards healthy eating. They stimulate metabolism, reduce the deficiency of plant-based protein, boost immunity and help with weight management. The variety of lentil sorts allows them to be used in various dishes. The geography of lentil use is expanding, and production growth is going up (over the past 50 years, global lentil production has increased almost 6 times).
LENTIL AND PEA
If peas were more popular than lentils in the 20th century, it was certainly not because they contained more nutrients, but because of regional availability. Regarding protein, pea contain is inferior to lentils, and also inferior to them in terms of folic acid, sodium, phosphorus, iron and iodine content. Lentils also cook faster and have a more delicate texture. However, peas are richer in vitamins and it`s hypoallergenic, which is why they are more commonly used in the infant diet. Anyway, today, it is possible to plan your diet thanks to a wide selection of grains and legumes. Next, we will discuss an important stage: processing legumes for use in the food industry.
TECHNOLOGY FOR CLEANING BEAN CROPS
Cleaning lentils is not an easy task, as its harvest contains plant remains, mineral impurities and dust due to the fact that legumes grow unevenly and the lower beans are located very low. Without high-quality processing of lentils, it is impossible to achieve high-quality taste and characteristics and, accordingly, satisfy consumer demands. Complete equipment set for processing lentils into groats is supplied by AGRO-SIMO-MASHBUD. At the end of 2024, the company announced a new product: Abrasive dehuller for legumes ЛАБ-1,5 (capacity up to 1,5 tonnes per hour). This machine has successfully passed test drives and is already being used in production lines at grain mills in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
For the production of pea groats it is, of course, recommended to use the unique original Peas shelling machine СІМО ЦШС-3 (02). This machine has been mentioned many times in our publications, as this technological equipment has long won over users with its performance characteristics, quality of work and results – processed pea is bright nature colour (no matt) and halves of the peas has ideal smooth edges without any scratch. Peas are shelled and split into two halves in a single pass through the shelling machine - 100%! This machine is successfully operated in Ukraine and Europe.
