Characterization of physicochemical, functional and antioxidant properties of western Himalayan black pea

Abstract

Black pea, a traditional Western Himalayan bio resource is an abundant store of nutrients and phytochemicals. In current research, moisture dependent physical properties of whole black pea seed (WBPS), nutritional and functional attributes of black pea whole (BPW), black pea husk (BPH), and black pea de-husked (BPDH) powder were determined. Besides, using response surface methodology (RSM), extraction conditions for phenols and flavonoids were effectively optimised and rendered ΔE* (11.89) and pH (6.78) values with mean TPC of 119.78 μg GAE/mg and TFC of 35.62 μg CE/mg for BPW extract. The optimised conditions were further carried for analysing extraction yield, TPC, TFC and antioxidant activities of WBPS fractions (BPH and BPDH). Also, maximum DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed in BPH whereas BPW indicated significantly stronger ABTS scavenging as well as metal chelating capacity. The HPLC quantification revealed highest concentration of gallic acid and catechin in BPW, chlorogenic and vanillic acid in BPDH, caffeic acid and rutin in BPH and trans-ferulic acid in all fractions. The cultivation of nutritionally rich pea crops has capability to boost economic prosperity in future, while also making it imperative to generate low operating advanced technologies for functional foods/nutraceuticals that would benefit human nutrition and well-being.

Keywords

• Black pea
• Response surface methodology
• Phenolic compounds
• High performance liquid chromatography