Chemical, thermal and structural properties of alkaline‐cooked (nixtamalised) chickpea (Cicer arietinum) flours

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The present study examined how the alkaline cooking process affects the chemical, thermal and structural properties of the chickpea, evaluating different lime concentrations. Cooking was carried out at 94 °C, with two times of water for 15 min with five different lime concentrations. Regarding chemical composition, a decrease in protein and fat was observed: from 23.64% to a range of 18.26–19.93% for protein and from 8.20% to a range of 6.05–7.74% for fat. However, an increase was observed for ash and mineral content. The same pattern was observed for potassium. Raw chickpea did not present endotherm retrogradation, but a higher endotherm retrogradation was presented in chickpea cooked without lime, denoting that nixtamalisation decreased retrogradation. Additionally, V‐amylose relative crystallinity increased with concentration of lime. Protein digestibility increases by β‐sheet dismissing structure. Finally, it was observed that steeping time plays a key role in the nixtamalisation process.
Nixtamalization process enhances some nutritional characteristics of chickpea and is an alternative process to increase the chickpea processing.