Protease Inhibitors of Chickpea (Cicer arietinumL) During Seed Development

Developing seeds of two chickpea varieties were collected on the 20th, 40th and 60th day after flowering (DAF) and analysed for trypsin inhibitors (TI). The varieties differed in their TI profiles and activity units. The TI band and activity were not detectable at 20 DAF in the varieties Annigeri and BDN 9-3. Annigeri showed the highest total and specific TI activity, and five isoinhibitors at 40 DAF, which decreased to four at 60 DAF. The appearance and disappearance of TI bands during seed development indicate their specific post-translational modification and/or the presence of isolated gene groups. © 1997 SCI.     

Technological properties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum): Production of snacks and health benefits related to type-2 diabetes

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is one of the most consumed pulses worldwide (over 2.3 million tons enter the world market annually). Some chickpea components have shown, in preclinical and clinical studies, several health benefits, including antioxidant capacity, and antifungal, antibacterial, analgesic, anticancer, antiinflammatory, and hypocholesterolemic properties, as well as angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibition. In the United States, chickpea is consumed mostly in the form of hummus. However, the development of new products with value-added bioactivity is creating new opportunities for research and food applications. Information about bioactive compounds and functional properties of chickpea ingredients in the development of new products is needed. The objective of this review was to summarize available scientific information, from the last 15 years, on chickpea production, consumption trends, applications in the food industry in the elaboration of plant-based snacks, and on its bioactive compounds related to type 2 diabetes (T2D). Areas of opportunity for future research and new applications of specific bioactive compounds as novel food ingredients are highlighted. Research is key to overcome the main processing obstacles and sensory challenges for the application of chickpea as ingredient in snack preparations. The use of chickpea bioactive compounds as ingredient in food products is also a promising area for accessibility of their health benefits, such as the management of T2D.     

Effects of processing and cooking on ascorbic acid content of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) varieties

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) is an important source of protein in several developing countries. Two commonly grown chickpea cultivars, HPG‐17 and C‐235, were evaluated for their physicochemical characteristics such as 100‐seed weight and density. Both chickpea varieties were subjected to various processing treatments and then analysed for their ascorbic acid content. The ascorbic acid content was generally found to be higher in the C‐235 variety, but it was higher in the HPG‐17 variety after germination. Significant results were obtained for both varieties after various treatments such as pressure cooking, germination, parching and solar cooking. It was found that the ascorbic acid content in both varieties decreased after all treatments except germination. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Extraction and characterization of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) albumin and globulin

ABSTRACT:  Albumin and globulin fractions of 1 Desi and 2 Kabuli varieties of chickpeas ( Cicer arietinum ) were extracted with water and salt solutions (K₂SO₄ and NaCl). The extractable yields and particularly the albumin-globulin ratio varied greatly with the extraction medium and chickpea variety. Depending on the procedure employed, albumin could be extracted as a major fraction of chickpea proteins. Higher levels of essential amino acids and sulfur containing amino acids were found in albumins than in globulins of all chickpeas investigated. The common structural characteristics of both Kabuli and Desi chickpea albumins and globulins were clearly identified by densitometric profiles of their sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel patterns. Albumins contained subunits with higher molecular weights than those of globulins. The in vitro digestibility of the chickpea proteins by papain, pepsin, chymotrypsin, and trypsin indicated that globulins were more susceptible to proteolytic hydrolysis.     

Effect of cooking on protein quality of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) seeds

Amino acid composition and in vitro protein digestibility of cooked chickpea were determined and compared to raw chickpea seeds. Heat treatment produced a decrease of methionine, cysteine, lysine, arginine, tyrosine and leucine, the highest reductions being in cysteine (15%) and lysine (13.2%). Protein content declined by 3.4% and in vitro protein digestibility improved significantly from 71.8 to 83.5% after cooking. The decrease of lysine was higher in the cooked chickpea seeds than in the heated protein fractions, globulins and albumins. The structural modification in globulins during heat treatment seems to be the reason for the increase in protein digestibility, although the activity of proteolytic inhibitors in the albumin fraction was not reduced. Results suggest that appropriate heat treatment may improve the bioavailability of chickpea proteins.     

风味鹰嘴豆软罐头加工工艺的研究

以鹰嘴豆为主要原料,研究风味鹰嘴豆软罐头的加工工艺,对鹰嘴豆采用常温持续浸泡方法以及加压蒸煮工艺对鹰嘴豆进行处理,显著改善了鹰嘴豆的加工性能并提高了制品的风味和口感。通过正交实验确定了风味鹰嘴豆软罐头鹰嘴豆处理的最佳工艺条件:鹰嘴豆初始浸泡的水温为24℃,浸泡水温为34℃,浸泡时间为6h,蒸煮时间12min。      

Characterisation and functional properties of proteins of some Indian chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cultivars

BACKGROUND: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) proteins have received attention during recent years owing to their higher biological values and better functional ingredients than oilseed proteins. In this study the composition, fractionation, electrophoretic behaviour and functional properties of five chickpea protein concentrates were determined. RESULTS: The chickpea proteins contained 15.9–54.8 g kg^?1 albumin, 48.9–154.1 g kg^?1 globulin, 39.2–76.5 g kg^?1 glutelin and traces of prolamin. Electrophoresis of the various fractions revealed that albumin and globulin were made up of sub‐units of different molecular weights ranging from 7 to 96 kDa. Water and oil absorption of the protein concentrates varied from 1.15 to 2.75 g g^?1 and from 2.60 to 5.65 g g^?1 respectively. Foaming capacity and foam stability of the protein concentrates were good and improved with the addition of salt (10 g L^?1 NaCl) or sugar (100 g L^?1 sucrose) at both isoelectric and neutral pH. Emulsifying capacity and emulsion stability of the protein concentrates were good and excellent respectively. CONCLUSION: Protein concentrates prepared from chickpeas have potential use in food formulations owing to their good emulsifying/foaming and water/oil‐binding capacities. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Milling and physicochemical properties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties

BACKGROUND: Physical characteristics of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seeds such as grain size, weight and hull content are important from a milling and marketing point of view. Chemical characteristics provide the information on nutritional status of grains. Chickpea of Desi (cv. A1) and Kabuli (cv. L550) cultivars were analyzed for their physicochemical, milling and milled flour quality characteristics. RESULTS: Between dry and wet milling, higher yield of dhal was obtained from wet milling, which was found to be true in both cultivars. An extra yield of 2–4% was obtained in wet milling. Between the cultivars, Desi was found to be the higher dhal‐yielding cultivar in both dry and wet milling methods. Fat, ash and protein contents were found to be higher in Kabuli than in Desi and the values were respectively 5.3%, 3.5% and 24.9% for Kabuli and 4.3%, 2.2% and 22.6% for Desi. CONCLUSION: The chickpea cultivars Desi and Kabuli vary significantly in their physical properties such as seed color, size, 100‐seed weight and 100‐seed volume. Between the dry and wet milling, a higher yield (2–4%) of dhal was obtained from wet milling. Between the cultivars, electronic nose analysis of chickpea flour indicated the possibility of differentiating the variations associated with varietal difference and milling. The gel electrophoresis pattern of chickpea showed as many as 15 protein bands in flours from both the cultivars, either in phosphate or SDS buffer. The Rapid Visco Analyzer profile did not show a significant difference between the two cultivars. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Cooking quality and nutritional attributes of some nely developed cultivars of chickpea (Cicer arietinum)

Eight nely developed and to commonly gron chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) cultivars ere evaluated for their cooking quality by measuring cooking time, ater absorption and sensory properties. Nutritional aspects of cooked hole seed samples ere measured chemically (including amino acids and minerals) and biologically in nitrogen-balance experiments ith rats. Results indicated that kabuli (cream seed coat) may be generally preferred to desi (bron seed coat) cultivars in terms of cooking time and sensory properties. Calcium content as noticeably higher in desi than in kabuli cultivars, hereas magnesium, iron, copper and zinc shoed no definite trend. Levels of lysine, threonine, methionine and cystine of these genotypes ere ithin the range of FAO values. Desi and kabuli revealed no noticeable difference in protein and amino acids. Hoever, biological value as considerably higher for kabuli than for desi. Consequently, kabuli contained more utilisable protein and may be nutritionally better than desi. In general, cooking quality and nutritional aspects of both nely developed and control cultivars ere similar.     

Hypocholesterolaemic and antioxidant activities of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) protein hydrolysates

BACKGROUND: Some dietary proteins possess biological properties which make them potential ingredients of functional or health‐promoting foods. Many of these properties are attributed to bioactive peptides that can be released by controlled hydrolysis using exogenous proteases. The aim of this work was to test the improvement of hypocholesterolaemic and antioxidant activities of chickpea protein isolate by means of hydrolysis with alcalase and flavourzyme. RESULTS: All hydrolysates tested exhibited better hypocholesterolaemic activity when compared with chickpea protein isolate. The highest cholesterol micellar solubility inhibition (50%) was found after 60 min of treatment with alcalase followed by 30 min of hydrolysis with flavourzyme. To test antioxidant activity of chickpea proteins three methods were used: β‐carotene bleaching method, reducing power and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical‐scavenging effect since antioxidant activity of protein hydrolysates may not be attributed to a single mechanism. Chickpea hydrolysates showed better antioxidant activity in all assays, especially reducing power and DPPH scavenging effect than chickpea protein isolate. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed the good potential of chickpea protein hydrolysates as bioactive ingredients. The highest bioactive properties could be obtained by selecting the type of proteases and the hydrolysis time. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Microwave‐assisted extraction of bioactive saponins from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L)

Growing interest in plant secondary metabolites has brought with it the need for economical, rapid and efficient extraction protocols. Microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE) was used to extract saponins from chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Several MAE conditions were tested, and the method proved to be superior to Soxhlet extraction with regard to amounts of solvents required, time and energy expended. The use of a butanol/H₂O mixture showed selectivity towards saponin extraction. Using TLC, two distinct saponins were observed in the various chickpea extracts. The identification of the major saponin as a DDMP‐conjugated saponin was verified using ¹H and ¹³C NMR, for the first time in chickpea. The MAE procedure most likely contributed to the conservation of the heat‐sensitive DDMP moiety. The pure chickpea saponin exhibited significant inhibitory activity against Penicillium digitatum and additional filamentous fungi. Two Fusarium strains tested were highly tolerant to the saponin. The potential for using MAE for the efficient extraction of natural products may assist in expediting the chemical analysis and characterization of the biological activities of such compounds. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Phytic acid content of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and black gram (Vigna mungo): varietal differences and effect of domestic processing and cooking methods

Phytic acid content of various cultivars showed a narrow variation: 7.48-8.00 g kg^?1 and 6.47-6.68 g kg^?1 for chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) and black gram (Vigna mungo L), respectively. Phytic acid was lowered significantly by the common methods of domestic processing and cooking including soaking, cooking, autoclaving and sprouting of the legume grains. Sprouting had the most marked phytic acid lowering effect followed by autoclaving and soaking. Cooking of soaked seeds lowered phytic acid by 20-26% in chickpea and 35-40% in black gram grains whereas the loss was 7-11% and 6-9% in these pulses, respectively, when unsoaked seeds were cooked.     

Biochemistry and technology of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seeds

Chickpea is an important source of proteins, carbohydrates, B-group vitamins, and certain minerals, particularly to the populations of developing nations. India contributes over 75% of the chickpea production in the world where it is mostly consumed as dhal, whole seeds, and several types of traditional, fermented, deep fried, sweetened, and puffed products. In this review, the world production and distribution, genetic background, biochemical and nutritional quality, and developments in storage and processing technology of chickpea are discussed. Future research needs, to improve the utilization of chickpea as human food, are addressed.     

Reactions of chickpea to water stress: yield and seed composition

Drought after podding is a common feature of chickpea production in south‐western Australia. We studied the effect of water stress, imposed after podding, on yield and on the accumulation of amino acids and soluble sugars in seeds. Although terminal water stress decreased the total plant dry mass and seed yield by 23% and 30% respectively, it had no effect on the mass of individual pods and seeds which remained on the plant after the imposition of stress treatment. The deleterious effect of water stress on yield was due to increased pod abortion and a decrease in pod formation. Water stress improved the seed's nutritive value in terms of higher accumulation of soluble sugars, amino acids and proteins. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Water Absorption in Chickpea (C. arietinum) and Field Pea (P. sativum) Cultivars using the Peleg Model

Moisture absorption in seven chickpea cultivars and three field pea cultivars was investigated at 5, 15, 25 and/or 42°C using the Peleg model (M (t) = Mo + t/[K₁+ K₂t]). The Peleg constant K₁ varied with temperature. At a given temperature, the lower the K₁, the more water was absorbed. The Peleg constant K₂ was almost unaffected by temperature and could be used to predict the equilibrium water absorption. A constant K₃ expressing the temperature effect on water absorption (K₁= K₃T + K₄) was developed to distinguish two types of chickpea — Desi and Kabuli. All chickpeas had similar composition and initial moisture. The difference in water absorption rate was probably due to thickness and structure of the seed coat. The Peleg model could be used to predict water absorption in chickpea and field pea.     

Saponin content of chickpea and black gram: Varietal differences and effects of processing and cooking methods

Differences were observed in saponin contents of eight varieties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and four of black gram (Phaseolus mungo). Common domestic processing and cooking treatments reduced the saponin level of the pulses significantly. Sprouting had the most pronounced effect followed by autoclaving, soaking and ordinary cooking. Cooking of soaked as well as unsoaked seeds had a similar diminishing effect.     

Composition and properties of starches from Virginia‐grown kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars

Composition and properties of seeds and starches from five Virginia‐grown kabuli chickpea cultivars were investigated. The seeds had the average weight of 4.48 g per 10 g and volume of 641.2 mm³, and were rich in carbohydrate with starch as a principal constituent (59.2–70.9%). Resistant starch accounted for 7.7–10.4% of the total starch content. The composition and properties of the starches among the five cultivars were significantly different (P ≤ 0.05). All starches had a C‐type crystalline structure. The degree of crystallinity ranged from 21.1% to 27.4%, gelatinisation temperature from 7.97 to 11.2 °C and gelatinisation enthalpies from 2.18 to 3.76 J g^?1, and water absorption capacities from 90.7% to 117.5%. Different shapes and granule sizes were observed. Molecular weight of amylopectin was in the range of 6.35 × 10⁸–11.6 × 10⁸ Da. Cultivar ‘HB‐14’ was superior to the other cultivars, when combining larger seed size, higher resistant starch level and better properties.     

Solid state fermentation process for producing chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) tempeh flour. Physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of the product

Solid state fermentation (SSF) represents a technological alternative for processing a great variety of legumes and/or cereals to improve their nutritional quality and to obtain edible products with palatable sensorial characteristics. The objectives of this work were (1) to determine the best combination of SSF process variables (fermentation temperature FT/fermentation time Ft) for producing chickpea tempeh flour and (2) to characterise the physicochemical and nutritional properties of the product. Response surface methodology was applied as optimisation technique over three response variables: in vitro protein digestibility (PD), true protein (TP) and water absorption index (WAI). A central composite experimental design with two factors and five levels was used. The process variables FT and Ft had variation levels of 31–36 °C and 48–72 h respectively. Rhizopus oligosporus (1 × 10⁹ spores l^?1 in distilled water) was used as starter. Prediction models for response variables were developed as a function of process variables. A conventional graphical method was applied to obtain maximum PD, TP and WAI. Contour plots of each of the response variables were superimposed to obtain a contour plot for observation and selection of the best combination of FT (34.9 °C) and Ft (51.3 h) for producing of chickpea tempeh, which was dried (52 °C, 24 h) and milled to pass through an 80‐US mesh (0.180 mm) screen to obtain optimised chickpea tempeh flour. This flour had higher (p ≤ 0.05) TP (25.7 vs 19.7% dry matter (DM)), total colour difference (30.3 vs 16.7), WAI (4.18 vs 2.15 kg gel kg^?1 DM), available lysine (42.7 vs 30.4 g kg^?1 protein) and PD (83.2 vs 72.2%) and lower lipid content (2.6 vs 6.1% DM), phytic acid (1.1 vs 10.85 g kg^?1 DM), tannins (2.65 vs 21.95 g catechin kg^?1 DM) and pH (5.9 vs 6.3) than raw chickpea flour. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Study of selected quality and agronomic characteristics and their interrelationship in Kabuli‐type chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.)

Impact of genotype on quality, agronomic characteristics and their interrelationship in Kabuli‐type chickpea was investigated to provide significant feedback to breeder for selection/evolution of the most suitable varieties. Seven genotypes were studied for seventeen physical, chemical and agronomic characteristics. The effect of Kabuli‐type chickpea genotype on the physicochemical parameters, cooking time and agronomic characteristics were significant. Maximum seed size and volume were recorded for CC98/99 (0.32 g and 0.26 mL seed^?1, respectively), density and swelling index for the genotype FLIP97‐179C (having minimum seed size and volume), while the rest of the genotypes were statistically the same. Weight, volume after hydration, hydration capacity and swelling capacity followed the same pattern. Maximum moisture, protein and mineral concentration were noted in CC98/99. Seed protein concentration for the remaining genotypes was statistically non‐significant from one another. Longer period was taken by CM 2000 for flowering and maturity (130 and 181 days, respectively). Minimum time to flowering and maturity was taken by CC98/99. Genotype CC 98/99 outyielded all other genotypes (2107 kg ha^?1). Seed size and seed volume were strongly and positively correlated with protein content, weight after hydration, volume after hydration, hydration and swelling capacities (r = 0.83–1.0). Strong correlation was also noted among different agronomic characters.