Nutritional quality and health benefits of chickpea (Cicer arietinumL.): a review

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse crop grown and consumed all over the world, especially in the Afro-Asian countries. It is a good source of carbohydrates and protein, and protein quality is considered to be better than other pulses. Chickpea has significant amounts of all the essential amino acids except sulphur-containing amino acids, which can be complemented by adding cereals to the daily diet. Starch is the major storage carbohydrate followed by dietary fibre, oligosaccharides and simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose. Although lipids are present in low amounts, chickpea is rich in nutritionally important unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic and oleic acids. b-Sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol are important sterols present in chickpea oil. Ca, Mg, P and, especially, K are also present in chickpea seeds. Chickpea is a good source of important vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, folate and the vitamin A precursor b-carotene. As with other pulses, chickpea seeds also contain anti-nutritional factors which can be reduced or eliminated by different cooking techniques. Chickpea has several potential health benefits, and, in combination with other pulses and cereals, it could have beneficial effects on some of the important human diseases such as CVD, type 2 diabetes, digestive diseases and some cancers. Overall, chickpea is an important pulse crop with a diverse array of potential nutritional and health benefits.

Draft genome sequence of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) provides a resource for trait improvement

“…Its cultivation is of particular importance to food security in the developing world where, owing to its capacity for symbiotic nitrogen fixation, chickpea seeds are a primary source of human dietary protein 1 . Chickpea is a member of the Papilionoid subfamily of legumes, a clade that contains essentially all of the important legume crops.…”

Hydration kinetics and physical properties of split chickpea as affected by soaking temperature and time

“…Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), member of the bean family, is a good source of essential amino acids (except types containing sulfur), sterols, vitamins, dietary fiber and it also has a small amount of fat, mainly from unsaturated fatty acids (Jukantil et al 2012). The chickpea on average contains a 20.9 %, 1.3 %, and 43.4 % of protein, fat and carbohydrates, respectively (Sanchez-Vioque et al 1999).…”

Survey of trace element and dietetic fiber composition of “Leblebi” which is a local snack food consumed in Turkey

“…Pulses are excellent sources of protein, starch, dietary fiber, micronutrients and bioactive compounds with a low level of fat. Globally, the chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is mostly consumed as a seed food in several different forms and preparations are determined by ethnic and regional factors (Vadivel et al, 2011;Jukanti et al, 2012;Aguilera et al, 2009). Dbesity continues to increase worldwide despite the efforts of governments and health care providers and reduce this trend (Miller-Brand et al, 2002).…”