Effects of Pressure, Temperature, Treatment Time, and Storage on Rheological, Textural, and Structural Properties of Heat-Induced Chickpea Gels

Pressure-induced gelatinization of chickpea flour (CF) was studied in combination with subsequent temperature-induced gelatinization. CF slurries (with 1:5 flour-to-water ratio) and CF in powder form were treated with high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), temperature (T), and treatment time (t) at three levels (200, 400, 600 MPa; 10, 25, 50 °C; 5, 15, 25 min). In order to investigate the effect of storage (S), half of the HHP-treated CF slurries were immediately analyzed for changes in oscillatory rheological properties under isothermal heating at 75 °C for 15 min followed by cooling to 25 °C. The other half of the HHP-treated CF slurries were refrigerated (at 4 °C) for one week and subsequently analyzed for changes in oscillatory properties under the same heating conditions as the unrefrigerated samples. HHP-treated CF in powder form was analyzed for changes in textural properties of heat-induced CF gels under isothermal heating at 90 °C for 5 min and subsequent cooling to 25 °C. Structural changes during gelatinization were investigated using microscopy. Pressure had a more significant effect on rheological and textural properties, followed by T and treatment t (in that order). Gel aging in HHP-treated CF slurries during storage was supported by rheological measurements