Enhancing bread functionality through partial wheat flour replacement with chickpea starch: impacts on dough...

This study investigates the effects of substituting 5-15% wheat flour with chickpea starch (CS) in bread formulations, focusing on its impact on the physicochemical properties of the flour matrix, dough rheology, quality attributes, and glycemic index (GI) of the bread. CS incorporation improved the hydration capacity of the flour blend, promoted starch granule swelling and gelatinization through enhanced water availability, and improved dough viscoelasticity. FTIR analysis revealed that CS substitution induced a shift in protein secondary structure from disordered conformations (β-turn and random coil) to more ordered structures (β-sheet and α-helix), indicating enhanced structural stability of the dough protein matrix. However, higher CS substitution levels weakened the gluten matrix, resulting in increased bread firmness and decreased specific volume, baking loss, resilience, and springiness (p < 0.05). CS also positively affected the bread's color and flavor, likely due to enhanced Maillard reactions during baking. Sensory analysis showed that bread with 5% CS substitution had the highest acceptability. Additionally, CS substitution significantly reduced the estimated GI and in-vitro digestibility, which may be associated with structural changes in starch and an increased proportion of indigestible starch. In vivo digestion tests in mice indicated that the GI of CS-fortified bread was 49.33, classifying it as a low-GI food. These findings demonstrate the potential of CS as an ingredient for producing bread with a reduced glycemic response and improved quality, making it suitable for slow-digesting meal replacement products.