Preparation of Chickpea Curd by Heat‐Induced Gelation

The effect of compressing time, pH, and protein concentration on the texture of chickpea curds prepared by heat-induced gelation was assessed. The possible gelation mechanism was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), surface hydrophobicity, and viscometric analysis. Texture analysis showed that chickpea curd could be produced by steam cooking the protein fraction. DSC results indicated a decrease in the denaturation enthalpies (ΔH) for both legumin and vacilin as pH decreased from 6.5 to 6.0. Analysis of the surface hydrophobicity as a function of pH showed a sharp transition at pH 6.0. The viscosity of the protein fraction sharply increased at pH 5.2 producing an extremely hard curd. A mechanism for curd formation is proposed. L'effet du temps de compression, du pH et de la concentration en proteines sur la texture de gels de pois chiches induits par la chaleur est evalue. Le gel peut etre obtenu par cuisson a la vapeur de la fraction proteique. La calorimetrie differentielle a balayage indique une diminution des enthalpies de denaturation de la legumine et de la vaciline quand le pH passe de 6,5 a 6,0. La viscosite de la fraction proteique augmente a pH 5,2 produisant un gel extremement dur. Un mecanisme pour la gelification est propose.