Evaluation of chickpea as alternative to soy in plant-based beverages, fresh and fermented

A novel plant-based beverage made with garbanzo chickpeas was developed. Compared to soymilk, the chickpea beverage contained lower amounts of protein (1.21 vs. 2.09 g/100 g), fat (0.34 vs. 0.74 g/100 g) and sugar (0.24 vs. 0.33 g/100 g), due to a higher starch content (2.08 vs. 0.14 g/100 g). Fermentability of the chickpea beverage was acceptable, with colony forming units (CFU) increasing from about 5 x 10(4) to 7.4 x 10(6) after a 16-h fermentation, whereas in soy the final value was 1.7 x 10(7). Nonetheless, syneresis was significantly higher than that of the soy counterpart: 19.4 vs. 3.8%. This was attributed to the weaker protein network in the fermented chickpea beverage and to the high starch level that may have led to starch retrogradation during storage, hence resulting in whey expulsion. Sensory analysis revealed that the fresh chickpea beverage was as acceptable as the soy one. On the contrary, the fermented chickpea beverage received lower ratings than the soy one for appearance. This study showed that chickpea can be a promising alternative to soy in the development of a fresh plant-based beverage, while optimisation is required to apply it in a fermented beverage.