Impact of adding chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) flour to wheat flour on the rheological properties of toast bread

Legume flours, due to their amino acid composition and fibre content, are ideal ingredients for improving the nutritional value of bread and bakery products. In this study, the influence of the total or partial replacement of wheat flour by chickpea flour on the quality characteristics of toast bread was analyzed. Chickpea flour was added to medium strength wheat flour to replace 15 and 30% w/w of wheat flour. The effects of chickpea flour supplementation on dough physical properties, such as water absorption capacity, dough development time, dough stability, crumb, porosity and toast bread structure as well as quality characteristics were studied. Chickpea flour at 15 and 30% substitution levels increased the stability and the tolerance index of the dough. The volumes of the breads decreased as the level of chickpea flour increased due to the dilution of the gluten structure by added protein. Nevertheless, substitution at 15 and 30%, gives parameter values at least as good as the control sample and produces an acceptable toast bread, in terms of weight, volume, texture and crumb structure.