Cold plasma processing has been marched toward becoming one of the proven techno alternatives to thermal food preservation. It was found effective to cause positive alterations in the surface properties of food by etching. The effect of low-pressure cold plasma on the percent moisture absorption of six chickpea cultivars, namely, Kripa, Virat, Vishal, Vijay, Digvijay, and Rajas, was studied. For plasma treatment, low-pressure glow discharge plasma with bell-jar symmetry was employed. The samples were treated with plasma at 40, 50, and 60 W each for 10, 15, and 20 min. These were soaked in distilled water and 1% sodium bicarbonate solution at room temperature for 8 h. The percent moisture absorption changed significantly (p < 0.05) with an increase in plasma power and treatment time. Kripa had the highest percent moisture absorption (102.07 ± 0.28) and (103.31 ± 0.68) at 60 W 20-min treatment while Rajas had the lowest percent moisture absorption (78.57 ± 0.81) and (79.44 ± 0.26) at 40 W and 10-min treatment in distilled water and 1% sodium bicarbonate solution soaking, respectively. The samples treated for 20 min with power 60 W showed higher moisture absorption for all the chickpea cultivars. The percent moisture absorption in control samples soaked in 1% sodium bicarbonate solution was higher than in distilled water. The same pattern did not repeat in the plasma-treated samples. The findings in this research will be useful for designing the soaking process for different cultivars of plasma-treated legumes.

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.

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.

In the current context of the problems created by the use of pesticides, cold plasma treatment found to be the best alternative in the protection of chickpea from pulse beetle invasion during storage up to few years. Cold plasma is proven method of food preservation which control food spoilage at very lower temperatures. The prospective potential of cold plasma treatment to control the pulse beetle Callosobruchus chinensis L. infestation of chickpea for the storage period of about five years after plasma treatment was studied. Chickpea cultivars Vijay and Digvijay were used. Pulse beetle un-infested plasma untreated, pulse beetle un-infested plasma-treated, pulse beetle infested plasma untreated and pulse beetle infested plasma-treated samples studied for comparative pest status after every quarter. Cold plasma treatment at 40, 50, and 60 W power each for 10, 15, 20 min. was applied. The samples were stored in an airtight zip lock pouch under laboratory conditions. Cold plasma was found most effective in controlling the pulse beetle infestation of previously un-infested plasma-treated and previously infested plasma-treated samples when compared to pulse beetle un-infested plasma untreated and pulse beetle infested plasma untreated chickpea samples. Also, the present research aims to put the step to establish the scientific base to study the stored grain pest infestation for such a long period which will be helpful to validate the results obtained during such preliminary short-term studies.

Food preservation in the present era seems to be driven by plasma processing due to its efficiency in controlling microorganism at very less temperatures. Legumes are mostly soaked before cooking. Peleg model fitting for six chickpea cultivars after plasma treatment was studied when these were soaked in distilled water at ambient temperature. The cold plasma treatment of 40, 50 and 60 watts each with an exposure time of 10, 15, 20 minutes was applied. The Cold plasma treatment shown an increase in the water absorption rate of chickpea cultivars with respect to changing plasma parameters, but there was no change in the water absorption capacity of the samples. K1 (Peleg rate constant) decreased from 32.3 to 4.3 x 10− 3 (h % −1) for all the six chickpea cultivars consistently as plasma power and treatment time increased, which shown the increase in water absorption rate. K2 (Peleg capacity constant) ranged from 9.4 to 12 x 10− 3 (h % −1) for all the six chickpea cultivars. It did not increase or decrease consistently as plasma power and treatment time increased which shown no effect of plasma treatment on water absorption capacity. Peleg model fitting was found successful to show the correlation of water absorption of chickpea cultivars. The model fit was in the range from R2 ≥ 0.9873 to 0.9981 for all the six chickpea cultivars with increasing soaking time and cold plasma treatment.