Effect of partial replacement of wheat flour with sprouted chickpea flours with or without selenium on physicochemical, sensory, antioxidant and protein quality of yeast-leavened breads

Abstract Wheat flour was partially replaced with 15% of 1) whole (WCH); 2) germinated (GCH); or 3) selenium-germinated (SeGCH) chickpea flours and then processed into yeast-leavened pan breads. Dough rheological, quality parameters and sensory properties of breads were evaluated. Also, selenium content, cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) and protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores (PDCAAS) were determined. All chickpea flours increased more than 2% optimum dough water absorption and consequently bread yield but diminished between 7 and 13% bread volumes. The fortified breads also had darker crumbs and higher densities. The texture parameters were not significantly affected in all breads. WCH, GCH and SeGCH breads increased PDCAAS by 28.1, 8.8 and 9.0%, respectively, compared to CTR bread. Protein digestibility decreased about 2% in GCH and SeGCH in comparison to the CTR and WCH breads. The higher selenium content in SeGCH breads enhanced the CAA by 39% compared to the control bread. This investigation clearly indicates that chickpea flours can be utilized to produce yeast-leavened breads with higher protein quality and adequate organoleptic properties. Composite breads containing selenium-germinated chickpea flour contained significant amounts of this essential nutrient that is known to prevent oxidative stress and cancer.