Impact of Sprouting Time of Chickpea on the Physicochemical, Textural, Sensory, and Total Phenolic Characteristics of Falafel Prepared from Sprouted Chickpea Flour

Abstract

Falafel is considered as an inexpensive and nutritious product that contains various plant substances, vitamins, dietary fibers, and phenolic compounds. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of sprouting time on the physicochemical characteristics of sprouted chickpea flour. Also, the effects of sprouting time on the physicochemical characteristics and sensory properties of falafel prepared from sprouted chickpea flour were examined. The finding of this research indicated that the sprouting process significantly increased the total phenolic content (from 284.17 to 720.98 μg gallic acid/g dry), antioxidant capacity (from 77.55% to 93.35%), and redness (from 7.65 to 11.39) of chickpea flour (p0.05). In general, utilizing of one-day (24 hours) sprouted chickpea flour for the production of falafel is recommended due to the best flavor, the highest overall acceptance score, high content of phenolic compounds, high antioxidant capacity, and low oil absorption.

Keywords

• antioxidant capacity
• cohesiveness
• firmness
• oil absorption
• total phenolic