A New Window into Canada’s Pulse Quality

Nov 28, 2025

We've recently launched the Pulse Quality Dashboard — a new resource that makes Canada’s investment in pulse quality research accessible and interactive.

The dashboard brings together years of data showing how genetics and environment influence the quality and nutritional attributes of Canadian peas, lentils, and faba beans. Designed for food industry professionals, researchers, and stakeholders across the value chain, this tool provides a clear view into what makes Canadian pulses a leader in global markets.

With the Pulse Quality Dashboard, you can:

Explore detailed datasets from 2019–2023 across peas, lentils, and faba beans
Understand typical ranges for key compositional and functional attributes
Track variety acreage over time, nationally and by province
Canada’s continued investment in pulse research keeps our industry at the forefront of quality, innovation, and transparency. The Pulse Quality Dashboard represents another step forward in making Canada’s pulse quality data open and actionable.

Click here to see more...

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.