Chickpea-supplemented diet alters the gut microbiome and enhances gut barrier integrity in C57Bl/6 male mice

•Effects of chickpea diet on murine gut health (epithelial barrier and microbiota).•Chickpeas altered the cecal and fecal microbiota community structure and activity.•Chickpeas increased colonic epithelial barrier integrity biomarkers.•Chickpeas increased colonic mucus barrier integrity and anti-microbial biomarkers. Pulses are rich in fermentable fibre and phenolic compounds that have the potential to modify baseline function within the gut microenvironment (microbiota and epithelial barrier), thereby mitigating gut-associated diseases. The objective was to assess the gut health promoting effects of dietary chickpea in C57BL/6 mice consuming a 20% cooked chickpea flour diet (CK) or an isocaloric control diet for 3weeks. Gut health was enhanced by CK including (i) colon crypt mucus content and mucin mRNA expression, (ii) crypt length, proliferation, and epithelial barrier junctional components expression, (iii) anti-microbial defenses, and (iv) altered cecal and fecal microbiota community structure (e.g. increased Prevotella) with enhanced metagenomic functions (e.g. increased flavonoid biosynthesis, butanoate metabolism), and microbial activity (increased short chain fatty acid production). Collectively, CK modulated the baseline function of the colonic microenvironment (microbiome and epithelial barrier), thereby priming colonic function such that the severity of gut-associated diseases could be mitigated.