Saponins
Specific molecules
The molecules that foam: they are what whitens the cooking water of chickpeas.
Long filed among the anti-nutrients, they are mostly studied today for their effect on cholesterol. Rinsing quinoa removes the bitterness, and part of them with it.
Effects and benefits
The molecules that make chickpea water foam long passed for anti-nutrients. Today they are studied for their talent at holding cholesterol back in the gut, as shown in animals.
Saponins have a head that likes water and a tail that likes fat: they behave like soap, hence the foam, and hence their name, from the Latin sapo. Aquafaba, chickpea cooking water, partly owes them its ability to whip.
In the gut, they form complexes with cholesterol and bile acids that do not cross the wall: in animals, cholesterol absorption falls (Francis et al., 2002). In humans, the data remain thin.
Sources: Francis et al., Br J Nutr, 2002
Where to find it (18)
- Alfalfa
- Asparagus
- Bambara groundnut
- Black chickpea
- Black soybean
- Broad beans
- Chickpeas
- Fenugreek
- Flageolet / borlotti bean
- Green / brown lentil
- Lablab bean
- Lima bean
- Oats
- Quinoa
- Red kidney bean
- Soybeans / edamame
- Urad bean
- White bean