Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Food Innovation and Sustainability Congress, İstanbul, Türkiye, 16 - 18 Mayıs 2024, ss.226
Sprouting and fermentation are simple, economical, and effective methods used to enhance the nutritional content
of legumes. The reactivated metabolic activities during sprouting and fermentation lead to significant changes in
the biochemical, nutritional, and sensory properties of legumes. Aquafaba, a viscous liquid of high nutritional
value obtained from the cooking water of chickpeas or other legumes, is a plant-based alternative food additive
with various functional and technological properties due to its starch and protein content. These technological
properties of aquafaba make aquafaba an alternative ingredient for the food industry. Its functional properties,
along with being plant-based and cost-effective, have made aquafaba usage as an egg substitute an intriguing
subject. Towards the end of 2019, particularly with the increasing demand for vegan products, the usage
of aquafaba witnessed a significant rise. This trend led to a notable increase in the number of products
manufactured with aquafaba by the year 2020, suggesting further growth in the aquafaba market. The quality and
characteristics of aquafaba stem from the compounds passed from the legume during cooking. Studies indicate
that sprouting and fermentation result in differences in the protein and starch content of legumes and the
technological properties of proteins. This study aims to determine how sprouted lentil and sprouted-fermented
chickpea cooking waters affect their physicochemical and technological properties. For this purpose, after boiling
legumes for 15 minutes with a lentil: water ratio of 1:4 and chickpea: water ratio of 1:3, the cooking water was
separated and allowed to stand at 4°C for 24 hours. The resulting lentil cooking water exhibited a foaming capacity
and stability varied between 716-750% and 94.41-94.6%, whereas chickpea cooking water foaming capacity and
stability varied between 566.6-593.3% and 79,7-82,35%, respectively. The emulsion activity index (EAI) values
of sprouted lentils and sprouted fermented aquafabas were calculated as 94% and 84%, respectively. As a result,
it was determined that sprouted and sprouted-fermented legume cooking waters, developed in accordance
with sustainability principles, could be used as plant-based food additives in various food formulations due to
their techno-functional properties.