Incorporating sprouted chickpea flour in pasta increases brachial artery flow-mediated dilation

Consumption of alternative flours, such as sprouted chickpea flour, has shown increased popularity in recent years. Foods rich in antioxidants have been shown to influence brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a non-invasive test of a crucial layer of the artery called the endothelium. Partially replacing the semolina flour in pasta with sprouted chickpea flour (SCF) may acutely affect endothelial function post-digestion. We sought to determine if FMD was higher, lower, or the same post-digestion of pasta made with 60% semolina flour and 40% SCF (SCF40) vs. post-digestion of pasta made with 100% semolina flour (SEM100, i.e., control).

Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) analysis was performed on the same flour samples. Healthy participants underwent a screening visit and two randomized controlled meal data collection visits (SCF40 and SEM100). At each data collection visit, participants consumed 255 g of pasta with butter. FMD was assessed 2-3 h after pasta consumption.

TEAC results showed that SCF40 (2.031 ± 0.096 mmol trolox/100 g sample) had significantly greater antioxidant capacity than SEM100 (1.736 ± 0.046 mmol trolox/100 g sample; p = 0.02). Twenty-two healthy participants (5 men and 17 women; 26 ± 2 years, 66.6 ± 2.3 kg, BMI = 24 ± 1 kg/m², SBP = 114 ± 3 mmHg, DBP = 75 ± 2 mmHg, HR = 74 ± 3 BPM) were studied. FMD in the SCF40 condition (10.3% ± 1.2%) was greater than the SEM100 condition (7.9% ± 0.8%, p = 0.02).

These data suggest that partial substitution with sprouted chickpea flour in place of semolina flour in pasta acutely improves post-digestion FMD, which may be beneficial for cardiovascular health (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03801486).