Bread with chickpea flour
Bread made with chickpea flour could help to make gluten-free breads more acceptable, says new research.
The study examined the effects of four different legume flours on the characteristics of gluten-free bread formulations.
Led by Dr Marta Capellas from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, the research team tested four gluten-free bread formulations made from different legumes with the purpose of creating a gluten-free bread formulation with soya protein substituted for other legume proteins.
Capellas and her team found bread baked with chickpea flour to have the best potential for baking gluten-free bread without soya protein.
She said: “Chickpea bread exhibited the best physic-chemical characteristics and, in general, good sensory behaviour, indicating that it could be a promising alternative to soya protein”.
The researchers explained that many current gluten-free formulations utilise soya protein flour to produce bread products with good baking and sensory characteristics, however the use of soy may not be ideal due to risks of having allergic reactions.
The research team added: “The high allergenicity of soya… and the associated digestive problems, are leading to more research into alternative protein sources which may be able to provide gas-holding capacity and bake development”.
Capellas and her colleagues tested four bread recipes, prepared with chickpea flour, pea isolate, carob germ flour or soya flour.
They said all breads produced with the legume flours showed good physicochemical characteristics and an adequate sensory profile – revealing that bread made with carob germ flour had a thicker batter structure when compared with the other formulations.
This is perhaps because of the different protein behaviour and the residual gums present in carob germ flour.
The team added: “Carob germ flour generated batters with good rheological properties, however, its breads generally presented poor characteristics”.
The team also revealed chickpea flour and pea isolate breads to be the all-rounders, obtaining good results in all parametres studied – “indicating that these ingredients could be a promising alternative to soya flour”.
They said: “Chickpea bread also showed the softest crumb”.
Capellas and her researchers said additional research that focuses on combining protein sources to optimise gluten-free legume formulations, should be examined in order to integrate good baking characteristics and sensory profile provided by certain legume flours.
