Abstract
Chickpea lines with colored testa (seed coat) contain high levels of polyphenolic compounds that exhibit high levels of antioxidant activity. However, common processing procedures, such as soaking and cooking, may decrease the levels of these bioactive compounds and subsequent overall antioxidant activity. Here, the effects of soaking, cooking and steaming processes were examined in relation to total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and ferric reducing ability of plasma antioxidant activity (FRAP AA) of colored chickpea seeds. All processing steps significantly reduced TPC, TFC and FRAP AA in all of the tested chickpea seeds. Nevertheless, soaking the seeds at room temperature (for 22 h) resulted in a smaller decrease in TPC, TFC and FRAP AA than soaking at 60℃ (for 2 h). Moreover, steaming was superior to cooking in terms of conserving polyphenol and antioxidant activity. The observed reduction in TPC was mainly due to leaching of these compounds from the seed coat into the soaking or cooking water. Based on these results, we suggest that soaking at room temperature for 22 h followed by steaming for 1 h is the best method for retaining TPC, TFC and FRAP AA of colored chickpea.
Highlights
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an annual grain legume that is extensively cultivated for human consumption
The effects of soaking, cooking and steaming processes were examined in relation to total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and ferric reducing ability of plasma antioxidant activity (FRAP AA) of colored chickpea seeds
We suggest that soaking at room temperature for 22 h followed by steaming for 1 h is the best method for retaining TPC, TFC and FRAP AA of colored chickpea
Summary
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an annual grain legume (pulse crop) that is extensively cultivated for human consumption. Chickpea is cultivated throughout the world, including the Mediterranean basin, the Near East, Central and South Asia, East Africa, South and North America, and Australia It is the second-most important pulse crop in the world (after dry bean), covering 15% (10.2 million ha) of the area dedicated to pulse cultivation and accounting for 14% (7.9 million tons) of pulse production worldwide (FAOSTAT http://faostat.fao.org/default.aspx). Desi-type chickpea seeds have a thicker, irregularly shaped seed coat, which ranges in color from light tan to black, and a 100-seed weight of not more than 28 g. Polyphenols are common constituents of foods of plant origin and are major antioxidants in the human diet. These compounds possess diverse biological properties which provide a number of benefits, including antioxidant, apoptotic, antiaging, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory activities, cardiovascular protection, and improvement of endothelial function. The abundance of phenolic compounds in such legumes as the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) [9], faba (broad) bean (Vicia faba) [14,15], beach pea (Lathyrus maritimus) [16], FNS
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