Effect of dry heat on the in vitro digestibility and trypsin inhibitor activity of chickpea flour

The effect of a dry heat treatment on trypsin inhibitors, protein quality and molecular weight of products obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis of chickpea flours was analysed in order to use chickpeas as food protein hydrolysates. Chickpea flour obtained from dehusked seeds was processed under different conditions, either by heating or enzymatic treatment. Heat treatment at 140 °C for varying times (1–24 h) inactivated trypsin inhibitors and facilitated enzymatic treatment but showed an unacceptable loss in the nutritional quality of the protein for heating times longer than 6 h. Enzymatic treatment with a commercial protease, Alcalase 0.6L, at pH 8 and 50 °C, increased the protein nutritional value of the chickpea by breaking the protein chains into shorter peptide chains more suitable to human nutrition.