ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Characterization
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frfst.2025.1547684
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Quality Characterization Methods for Plant-Based Food AlternativesView all articles
Chickpea processing to obtain a protein ingredient for the plant-based market
Provisionally accepted- 1Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2Embrapa Food Technology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most cultivated and consumed pulses worldwide, after bean and pea, and is commonly commercialized in the form of seeds, flour or canned. Grains are rich in proteins with the potential to be an alternative source of protein for human nutrition. The use of pulse proteins is highly dependent on composition, functional and structural properties. The objective of this study was to determine the best processing parameters for the wet extraction of protein from chickpea, as well as to analyze the technical-functional properties and physical characteristics of the protein concentrate. The application of the concentrate in fish-like croquette was also evaluated. The processing route was carried out by alkaline extraction and acid precipitation of proteins where pH, stirring time, and solute:solvent ratio were evaluated. The best results for alkaline extraction were at pH 8.5, solute:solvent ratio of 1:12, and stirring time of 20 minutes. For acid precipitation, the best results were at pH 4.5 and stirring time of 10 minutes. The final protein concentrate presented 78% protein (dry basis) and a mass yield of 10.2%. Regarding techno-functional properties, the results for defatted flour (CF) and protein concentrate (CPC) were as follows: solubility (CF pH 3 = 7.60% and pH 9 = 83.82%; CPC pH 3 = 51.45% and pH 9 = 90.72 %), water holding capacity (CF = 2.18 g/g and CPC = 1.23 g/g), oil holding capacity (CF = 1.69 g/g and CPC = 1.59 g/g), foaming capacity (CF = 82.22% and CPC = 77.78%), foam stability up to 60 min (CF= 92.67% and CPC= 93.82%), emulsifying capacity (CF = 18.79 m 2 /g and CPC = 16.49 m 2 /g), emulsifying stability (CF = 28.69 min and CPC = 36.64 min) and the lowest degree of gelation for CF (0.10 g/mL) and CPC (0.18 g/mL). As demonstrated in the sensory test, the overall acceptance, flavor, and texture of croquettes added CPC showed no differences when compared to croquettes added with commercial fava bean concentrate. CPC proved to be a promising protein alternative for the plant-based market.
Keywords: Pulse protein, Plant protein, protein extraction, protein characterization, Food ingredient, Sensory analysis
Received: 18 Dec 2024; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Caldeira, De Paiva Gouvêa, Azevedo, Wilhelm, Freitas de Sá, Galdeano, Felberg, Antoniassi, Mellinger and Lima. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Janice Ribeiro Lima, Embrapa Food Technology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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