Influence of processing on available carbohydrate content and antinutritional factors of chickpeas

The effect of chickpea processing (soaking, soaking plus cooking and dry heating) on the content of available carbohydrate (monosaccharides, disaccharides and starch) and antinutritional factors (alpha-galactosides and trypsin inhibitor activity) was studied. Soaking produced a reduction in available carbohydrates (19-20%) and alpha-galactosides (16-27%), and either did not affect or caused a slight reduction of trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) in chickpeas. Soaking plus cooking brought about a larger decrease in available carbohydrates (23-24%) and alpha-galactosides (45-58%), and completely eliminated TIA. Dry heating caused a 24% reduction in available carbohydrates, a 46% decrease in cu-galactosides and a 27% decrease in TIA. Overall, cooking the presoaked seeds in water, acidic or basic solution seems to be adequate to obtain a chickpea flour with a large reduction in antinutritional factors (alpha-galactosides and TIA) and also a high level of available carbohydrate content.