Biologically Active Peptides from Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Grain

Abstract

At present, it is relevant to investigate new sources of nutrients with beneficial activity for humans, so the scientific community has proposed to investigate different legumes such as beans, soybeans, and chickpeas. Chickpea is a grain with high nutrient (lipids, minerals, protein, and carbohydrates) content and is commonly used in Mediterranean cuisine. However, chickpea is a grain with high protein content, which has attracted the attention of researchers, as it is a new source for the obtainment of peptides with biological activity; in that sense, peptides with antioxidant, antihypertensive, hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, and antidiabetic activity have already been reported. This chapter summarizes the most recent information about the biological activity of peptides from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grain.

Keywords: Anticancer, Antidiabetic, Antihypertensive, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Amino acid, Bioactive peptides, Chickpea, Cicer arietinum, Desi, Functional food, Health-promoting, Hypocholesterolemic, Kabuli, Legumes, Nutrient-rich food, Proximal composition, Protein fractions, Protein hydrolysate.