Chickpea- A Boon to Human Nutrition

*Dr. R. Jagan Mohan and **P. Vasantha Kumari

*Professor and Head** Senior Research Fellow
Department of Food Product Development, Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur

About chick Production

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), a cool season crop, is the major produced food leguminous plant
in South Asia and the third leading globally, after common bean and field pea. Chickpea is
grown as winter crop (tropics) and as summer or spring crop (temperate environments). Grown
in more than 50 countries (89.7% in Asia; 4.3% in Africa; 2.6% in Oceania; 2.9% in Americas;
and 0.4% in Europe). India is the largest chickpea producer with 65% of global production.
Other major producing countries: Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Myanmar, Australia, Ethiopia, Canada,
Mexico, and Iraq. Important source of protein (20-22%) in South Asia who are largely
vegetarians. Rich in fiber, minerals, B-carotene, and lipid fraction is high in unsaturated fatty
acids. Improves soil fertility by fixing atmospheric N up to 140 kg/ha. Average global
productivity 700-800 kg/ha.

Fig. 1 Percentage of Chickpea Production

Chickpea is an upright (erect) annual legume, ranging from 30 to 70 cm tall; with primary,
secondary and tertiary branching, resembling a small bush. There are two types of chickpeas,
namely: Desi type – is a small dark seeded with rough coat, it is Indian originated seed which is
fairly drought tolerant, adapted to low rainfall areas and is of shorter height. Desi chickpeas
account for about 10 % of the world’s current commercial production Kabuli – it is a lighter
coloured late-maturity type with a thin, white seed coat and is found mainly in areas of rainfall
and is relatively taller in height. Kabuli has larger seeds with a smoother coat.
Nutritional Importance of Chickpea

There is a growing demand for chickpea due to its nutritional value. In the semi-arid tropics
chickpea is an important component of the diets of those individuals who cannot afford animal
proteins or those who are vegetarian by choice. Chickpea is a good source of carbohydrates and
protein, together constituting about 80% of the total dry seed mass in comparison to other pulses.
Chickpea is cholesterol free and is a good source of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals.
4Globally, chickpea is mostly consumed as a seed food in several different forms and
preparations are determined by ethnic and regional factors. In the Indian subcontinent, chickpea
is split (cotyledons) as dhal and ground to make flour (besan) that is used to prepare different
snacks. In other parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa chickpea is used in stews,
soups/salads and consumed in roasted, boiled, salted and fermented forms. These different forms
of consumption provide consumers with valuable nutrition and potential health benefits. Despite
chickpea being a member of the “founder crop package “with potential nutritional/medicinal
qualities, it has not received due attention for research like other founder crops (e.g. wheat or
barley). Chickpea has been and is being consumed by humans since ancient times owing to its
good nutritional properties. Chickpea protein is rich in lysine and arginine but most deficient in
the sulfur-containing amino acids, methionine and cystine. Chickpea contains twice the amount
of protein than that of cereals; hence, it can balance the amino acid and may improve the
nutritive value of a cereal-based diet. Similar to pigeon peas, the embryo amino acid profile of
chickpeas deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids is nutritionally better than the cotyledons.
Chickpea, in common with other pulses, contains relatively high concentrations of globulins,
representing almost 60% of the total protein. The legumin-like globulin (11S) is the major
globulin fraction in chickpea, whereas the vicilin (7S) constitutes about 30% of total globulins.
Furthermore, chickpea is of interest as a functional food with potential beneficial effects on
human health.

Table 1. Dietary Fiber content of chickpea

Dietary fiber content (g 100 g−1)

Pulses Total dietary Insoluble fiber Soluble fiber

fiber
Chickpea 18-22 10-18 4-8
 Table 2. Starch content, rapidly digested starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS),
resistant starch (RS) and free glucose (FG) of some legumes

Legume Total starch RDS SDS RS FG

Chickpea 46.47 4.97 10.21 31.60 0.22

Health Benefits of Chickpea

Although pulses have been consumed for thousands of years for their nutritional qualities, it is
only during the past two to three decades that the interest in pulses as food and their potential
impact on human health been revived. Chickpea consumption is reported to have some
physiologic benefits that may reduce the risk of chronic diseases and optimize health. Therefore,
chickpeas could potentially be considered as a ‘functional food’ in addition to their accepted role
of providing proteins and fibre. Different definitions are proposed describing the functional
foods: (i) “one encompassing healthful products including, modified food or ingredient that may
provide health benefits beyond traditional ingredients” (ii) “foods that, by virtue of the presence
of physiologically-active components, provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition”. As
discussed above, chickpea is a relatively inexpensive source of different vitamins, minerals and
several bioactive compounds (phytates, phenolic compounds, oligosaccharides, enzyme
inhibitors etc.) that could aid in potentially lowering the risk of chronic diseases. Due to its
potential nutritional value chickpea is gaining consumer acceptance as a functional food.

Applications of emerging technologies in chickpea processing

The biggest challenge in the pulse industry is infestation by insect pests during storage, transport
and distribution. Emerging technologies and application of these technologies to the pulse-
processing industry are mainly for the improvement of quality, functionality and safety. Among
various emerging technologies, radiofrequency (RF), microwave (MW), irradiation (IR) and
high-pressure (HP) processing have found potential application for storage and processing of
pulses. Both MW/RF could be used in drying of pulses by minimizing infestation and drying of
processed-based products based on pulses. Interest in the utilization of pulses in the developed
world is on the increase. Factors contributing to this include their reported nutritional and health
benefits, changes in consumer preferences, increasing demand for variety/balance, changes in
demographics (age, racial diversity), rise in the incidence of food allergies and ongoing research
on production and processing technologies. Sprouted pulses are typically produced from dry
pulses after soaking followed by storage in high humidity and moderate temperature
environments to encourage the process of germination. One approach to enhancing the utilization
of chickpea has been the employment of extrusion cooking, which is characterized as a high
temperature, short time process in which moistened, expansive, starchy and/or proteinaceous
food materials are plasticized and cooked in a tube by a combination of moisture, pressure,
temperature and mechanical shear. This results in fully cooked, shelf-stable.

Value addition of chickpea flour

The fortification of bakery goods with flours of peas, beans and chickpeas has been employed
and appears to be promising in particular for the functional food market. Chickpea have a low
glycemic index which benefits people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. One of the
practical applications of the chickpea is lowering the glycemic index of wheat flours. Chickpea
starches have occupied an important place in noodle preparation in several countries of the
world, and mung bean (Vigna radiate) has been reported as the best raw material for starch
noodle.

Conclusions

The information presented here shows the potential nutritional importance of chickpea and its
role in improved nutrition and health. It is an affordable source of protein, carbohydrates,
minerals and vitamins, dietary fibre, folate, β-carotene and health promoting fatty acids.
Scientific studies provide some evidence to support the potential beneficial effects of chickpea
components in lowering the risk for various chronic diseases, although information pertaining to
the role of individual chickpea components in disease prevention and the mechanisms of action
are limited to date. This is due to the complex nature of disease etiology and various factors
impacting their occurrence.