Chickpea-Based Plant-Based Cheese Analogues: Functional Ingredients, Processing Technologies, Fermentation Strategies, and Optimization Approaches

Abstract

lant-based cheese analogues are increasingly developed to address consumer demand for sustainable, ethical, lactose-free, and allergen-conscious alternatives to dairy cheese. However, many commercial products remain limited by low protein content, high dependence on refined starches and saturated plant oils, weak meltability, undesirable off-flavours, and inconsistent textural performance. This review discusses the scientific and technological basis of cheese analogue development, with particular emphasis on chickpea-based systems. The review summarizes dairy cheese structure as a reference model, major issues associated with dairy cheese, categories of cheese analogues, functional roles of plant proteins, hydrocolloids, fats, salts, acids, flavouring agents, additives, and processing technologies. Chickpea proteins, especially legumin and vicilin, are highlighted for their emulsifying, water-binding, and gel-forming properties, which support their application in cheese-like matrices. Fermentation, including the use of lactic acid bacteria and kombucha inoculum, is also discussed as a strategy to improve flavour, nutritional quality, bioactive compounds, and microbial safety. In addition, the review considers mathematical and predictive tools, particularly fractional factorial design, response surface methodology, and artificial neural networks, for optimizing formulation and processing variables. Current commercial products and labelling requirements are reviewed to identify nutritional and regulatory gaps. Overall, chickpea-based cheese analogues show strong potential, but further optimization is needed to improve protein quality, texture, sensory acceptance, clean-label formulation, and commercial scalability.