Legumes are a staple of diets all around the world. In some least developed countries, they are the primary source of protein; however, their beneficial properties go beyond their nutritional value. Recent research has shown that legumes have bioactive compounds like peptides, polyphenols, and saponins; which exhibit antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and other biological activities. Thus, these compounds could be an alternative treatment for inflammatory diseases, in particular, chronic inflammation such as arthritis, obesity, and cancer. Nowadays, there is a growing interest in alternative therapies derived from natural products; accordingly, the present review has compiled the bioactive compounds found in legumes that have demonstrated an anti- inflammatory effect in non-clinical studies.

Legumes are plants that produce seeds within a pod, belonging to the Leguminosae family, also called Fabaceae, cultivated for the first time in the Mediterranean region (Luna-Vital & González de Mejía, 2018).Nowadays, the production and consumption of these seeds have increased significantly worldwide due to the higher consumers' awareness of their nutritional and health benefits (Carbas et al., 2020). The most common legume species include soybean (Glycine max), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), lentil (Lens culinaris), fava bean (Vicia faba), and pea (Pisum sativum) (Luna-Vital & González de Mejía, 2018).Additionally, legumes can be found throughout the world its adaptability to different biotic areas of the planet (savanna, humid and dry forest, Mediterranean and temperate) which presents a great morphological variety; as well as many intrinsic elements (nitrogen fixation, diversity of its reproductive) and extrinsic systems that have been key to its successful evolution (Koenen et al., 2013).Regarding the distribution of its production and consumption in the world, it can be seen below (Siddiq et al., 2022):

Chickpea is a legume that has exhibited various biological activities. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of chickpea proteins hydrolysate fractions were evaluated. The extensive protein hydrolysate (greater than 50 %) obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis was fractionated and 5-10 kDa, 3-5 kDa, 1-3 kDa, and ≤1 kDa fractions were obtained. The anti-inflammatory activity was determined in murine peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Fractions of F5-10 kDa, F3-5 kDa, F1-3 kDa presented the highest inhibition of nitric oxide (76 %), Tumoral Necrosis Factor-α (93 %), and Interleukin-1β (90 %) synthesis. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by ABTS, DPPH methods, Fe3+ reducing power and Cu2+ chelating capacity. The fraction of F1-3 kDa showed higher inhibition of ABTS (78 %) and DPPH (7.76 %) radicals, besides showed the highest Fe3+ reducing capacity (0.508 Abs700nm), for Cu2+ chelating capacity F≤1 kDa showed higher inhibition (52.60 %). Chickpea protein shows biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, so it can be considered a source of low molecular weight bioactive peptides that can be used as alternative therapies for certain diseases related to chronic inflammation.