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Changes in the saponin content and composition of both chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) and lentils (Lens culinaris) were investigated after the seeds were soaked in distilled water, citric acid, and sodium bicarbonate solutions. The effect of cooking for 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after the seeds were presoaked in distilled water was also studied. Soaking did not modify the saponin content or composition of chickpeas and lentils regardless of the pH of the soaking solution. The native saponin, soyasaponin VI, was partially degraded during cooking into soyasaponin I, and both of these saponins leached into the cooking solution, 2-5% and 6-14% for chickpea and lentil, respectively. An overall loss of saponin content was found for lentil (15-31% loss), but none was observed for chickpea.