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

Jukanti, A K and Gaur, P M and Gowda, C L L and Chibbar, R N (2012) Nutritional quality and health benefits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): a review. British Journal of Nutrition, 108 (S1). S11-S26. ISSN 1475-2662

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Chickpeas, Quality, Nutrition, Health
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Chickpea Others > Food and Nutrition
Depositing User:	Mr Siva Shankar
Date Deposited:	03 Sep 2012 04:12
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2013 08:39
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/6107
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114512000797
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	We would like to acknowledge the ICRISAT library staff and other researchers for their help in this review.
Links:	Author

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