Efficacy of Ultrasound-Assisted Lactic Acid Fermentation and Its Effect on the Nutritional and Sensory Quality of Novel Chickpea-Based Beverage

Ultrasound-assisted fermentation is a promising approach for improving food products’ nutritional and sensory qualities. This study compared the effects of ultrasound-assisted fermentation on chickpea-based beverages’ nutritive and sensory components. Proximate, phytochemical, and microstructural data were examined to evaluate the effectiveness of the processing techniques. The processed samples demonstrated significantly higher (p < 0.05) nutritional and sensory outcomes compared to the unfermented sample. The unfermented sample had a total phytochemical level of 55.41 g/mL, whereas the fermented and ultrasound-assisted fermented samples had phytochemical contents of 66.71 and 64.51 µg/mL, respectively. With values of 8.37 ± 0.11 and 7.21 ± 0.06, respectively, on a 9-point hedonic scale, the sensory evaluation revealed that the traditionally fermented sample had a greater acceptability rate than the ultrasound-treated sample. The presence of organic acids in the final product was shown to be significantly impacted by fermentation, with propanoic having the highest concentrations of 1.79 ± 3 × 10−5a, 5.56 ± 2 × 10−5b, and 3.50 ± 0.00344c mg/mL for the unfermented, fermented, and ultrasound-assisted fermented beverages, respectively. According to these results, using ultrasound-assisted fermentation with reduced fermentation time can improve chickpea-based beverages’ nutritional and functional benefits.