Abstract
In this paper, the objective was to evaluated the impact of germination of chickpea cultivars (Muying1, Y2-514 and YZ-364) on the bioactivity, volatiles and functional properties. The results showed that the Vitamin C content of Muying1, Y2-514 and YZ-364 after germination significantly increased (p < 0.05). Moreover, the germination also caused a significant decrease in lower transition temperatures and enthalpy values in chickpea flours (p < 0.05). After germination treatment, β-sheet and random coils in protein secondary structures increased and β-turn decreased in YZ-364; α-helix, β-sheet and random coil in Y2-514 and Muying1 decreased, while β-turn increased. The germination significantly enhanced the functional properties of three chickpea flours (p < 0.05). It was proved that the germination significantly enhanced the total phenolic and flavonoids content, antioxidant activity and in vitro protein digestibility. The GC-IMS revealed that the germination could affect the contents of volatile compounds of chickpea flours.