A peleg modeling of water absorption in cold plasma-treated Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars.

Plasma processing appears to be the mainstay of food preservation in the present day due to its effectiveness in controlling microorganisms at low temperatures. Legumes are usually soaked before cooking. Six chickpea varieties (Kripa, Virat, Vishal, Vijay, Digvijay, and Rajas) were soaked in distilled water at room temperature, and Peleg model was fitted after plasma treatment. Cold plasma treatment was used at 40, 50 and 60 Watt with exposure times of 10, 15 and 20 min. K1 (Peleg rate constant) consistently decreased from 32.3 to 4.3 × 10-3 (h % - 1) for all six chickpea cultivars, indicating an increased water absorption rate with increasing plasma power and treatment time. It was lowest in 60 W 20 min plasma treatment in Virat cultivar. K2 (Peleg capacity constant) ranged from 9.4 to 12 × 10-3 (h % - 1) for all six chickpea cultivars. Thus, plasma treatment showed no effect on water uptake capacity (K2), as it did not increase or decrease consistently with increasing plasma power and treatment time. Fitting the Peleg model successfully revealed the correlation between the water absorption of chickpea cultivars. The model fit ranged from R2 ≥ 0.9873 to 0.9981 for all six chickpea cultivars.

Potential of cold plasma to control Callosobruchus chinensis (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) in chickpea cultivars during four year storage.

Cold plasma has proven itself as a promising method of food preservation by controlling food spoilage bacteria at very low temperatures. It is showing potential for insect control. Synthetic pesticides are mostly used to control Callosobruchus chinensis L. (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) to which it has developed resistance. The prospective potential of cold plasma treatment to control pulse beetle infestation of chickpea in the storage for about four years of plasma treatment was studied. The four chickpea cultivars were treated with cold plasma at different power 40, 50, and 60 W each for 10, 15, 20 min. Plasma treated and untreated chickpeas were stored in an airtight ziplock pouch. At regular intervals, the grains were observed for infestation. It was found most effective in controlling the pulse beetle infestation of treated chickpea samples. While plasma untreated chickpeas were attacked and damaged mostly by pulse beetle within the first quarter of the storage study. To avoid the problems created by the use of pesticides cold plasma treatment is found to be the best alternative in the protection of chickpea invasion by pulse beetle during a longer storage period. The findings in the present research may be used for the preparation of legumes which may also soak and cook faster like quick-cooking legumes and preserved for years without invasion of pulse beetle.