The time‐dependent rheological characteristics of a chickpea flour dispersion as a function of temperature and shear rate

Summary Chickpea or Bengalgram (Cicer arietinum L.) flour is used as a raw material to prepare several oriental snacks. Time‐dependent rheological studies were done on chickpea flour dispersions at different temperatures (10–40 °C) and shear rates (5–200 s−1) by using a controlled stress rheometer with a coaxial cylinder attachment. The loss in shear stress with time of shearing was a function of both the temperature and the shear rate used; low temperatures coupled with high shear rates yielded high losses in shear stress. The common time‐dependent rheological models such as the Weltmann, Hahn‐Ree‐Eyring and Peleg were suitable to characterize the time‐dependent rheological behaviour of chickpea flour dispersions. The Peleg model was marginally the best as evidenced by the lower root mean square error values of 0.77–5.17% (average 1.40%) compared with Weltmann (0.90–5.58%, average 2.00%) and Hahn‐Ree‐Eyring (0.96–5.97%, average 2.74%) models.