Peptides and isoflavones in gastrointestinal digests contribute to the anti-inflammatory potential of cooked or germinated desi and kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

•Sprouted vs. cooked chickpea concentrate showed higher anti-inflammatory potential.•Sprouted chickpea digests showed more abundance of peptides and isoflavones.•Chickpea phenolics showed higher inhibition of inflammation in vitro than peptides.•Anti-inflammatory peptides in sprouted chickpea digest were identified. It is largely unknown how processing affects bioactive potential of chickpea proteins to prevent bowel inflammatory diseases. The aim was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of protein concentrates from germinated and cooked chickpeas (GC and CC, respectively) and its relationship with protein and isoflavone composition before and after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. Anti-inflammatory activity of GC digests was almost 2-fold higher than CC digests (p