Sprouted chickpea flour in pasta and artery dilation
What it found
In 22 healthy young adults, eating pasta made with 40% sprouted chickpea flour led to better artery widening after the meal than pasta made with 100% semolina flour.
The chickpea flour also had more antioxidant capacity in lab tests.
What they found
Studies in people
Artery widening in people
After eating the chickpea pasta, the brachial artery widened by 10.3% on average, compared to 7.9% after the semolina pasta. This difference was statistically significant.
Blood pressure and heart rate
There were no differences in blood pressure or heart rate between the two pasta meals.
Baseline artery measurements
The starting artery diameter and the shear rate during the test were similar for both pasta meals.
Animal and lab studies
Antioxidant capacity in lab
The flour mix with 40% sprouted chickpea flour had significantly greater antioxidant capacity than the 100% semolina flour. The non-sprouted chickpea mix was not significantly different from semolina.
What the authors conclude
“These data suggest that partial substitution with sprouted chickpea flour in place of semolina flour in pasta acutely improves post-digestion FMD, which may be beneficial for cardiovascular health”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that substituting 40% of the semolina flour in pasta with sprouted chickpea flour improves in vitro antioxidant capacity and post-consumption endothelial function in healthy adults.
- They suggest that partially replacing traditional semolina flour with sprouted chickpea flour may be a beneficial and simple dietary intervention for improving cardiovascular health.
- They advise that future longitudinal studies should be conducted to establish chronic benefits versus the acute benefits shown in this investigation.
How it was done
The authors note that endothelial dysfunction is a precursor to atherosclerosis and that foods rich in antioxidants are largely believed to benefit endothelial function. They wanted to see if partially replacing semolina flour with sprouted chickpea flour in pasta would affect endothelial function after eating.
They tested the antioxidant capacity of three flour mixes in the lab. Then 22 healthy adults (5 men and 17 women, average age 26) ate 255 g of pasta with butter in two separate visits: one with pasta made from 60% semolina and 40% sprouted chickpea flour, and one with 100% semolina pasta. Artery widening was measured 2 to 3 hours after each meal.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a single meal study, so it cannot show what happens with long-term consumption.
- The study included only healthy young adults, so the results may not apply to other groups.
- The authors did not measure blood antioxidant levels, so they cannot be sure that the effect was due to antioxidants.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Montclair State University, USA
The paper
- Title
- Incorporating sprouted chickpea flour in pasta increases brachial artery flow-mediated dilation
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Bruno JA, Feldman CH, Konas DW, Kerrihard AL, Matthews EL (2019). Incorporating sprouted chickpea flour in pasta increases brachial artery flow-mediated dilation. Physiology international. doi:10.1556/2060.106.2019.21Free full textPubMed 31564118DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error