THE EFFECTS OF FUNGAL INFECTION ON THE CHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL-PROPERTIES OF CHICKPEAS (CICER-ARIETINUM) AND FABA BEANS (VICIA-FABA)

We investigated the effects of fungal infection on the chemical compos ition and functional properties of 'healthy' and 'diseased' chickpeas and faba beans which were classified on the basis of visual contaminat ion. Following fungal testing, the 'diseased' seeds were shown to poss ess relatively low levels of potentially toxigenic fungi as a proporti on of the total number of colonies, which was also lower than expected . Mycotoxins could not be detected in either crop. There were no appre ciable differences in the average moisture, ash, crude fat, crude prot ein and acid detergent fibre contents between the 'healthy' and 'disea sed' grain of both chickpeas and faba beans. Hydration capacity of the whole seeds did not differ between 'healthy' and 'diseased' grain sam ples of both chickpeas and faba beans. However, hard seed coatedness w as greater in both 'diseased' chickpeas and faba beans compared with t he 'healthy' samples. Water and oil absorption capacities were affecte d by disease in the chickpea and faba bean flours, although the effect s were inconsistent between the two seed types. The foaming characteri stics of the 'diseased' chickpea and faba bean flours were severely af fected.