The non-dairy probiotic potential of the prebiotic Turkish snack “leblebi”

Abstract

Today, there are hundreds of different diets recommended around the world for healthy nutrition from the “Karatay diet” to the “Stone Age diet” or “Paleo diet”. Almost none of these diets prohibit the consumption of legumes. In fact, physicians have also recommended eating a small amount of chickpeas regularly in order to reduce stomach acidity. Chickpeas also have a distinct place in the vegetarian diet due to the nutritional components they contain. Leblebi stands out as a healthy and tasty traditional product that can be consumed at any time of the day. Although chickpeas contains 30% starch, the glycaemic index of leblebi is low (20-30), indicating that it will not suddenly increase the blood glucose level. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of probiotic opportunities for new product development and nutrition research of the traditional chickpea product of Turkey known as leblebi.