AFRICAN 
STANDARD  DARS  
866  
Second  Edition 2023 
 
 Reference No. DARS 866:2023 
ICS 67.060  
 
 
© ARSO 2023  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dry ch ickpeas — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS 866: 2023  
ii © ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved   
Table of contents  
 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  3 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
5.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  4 
5.2 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  4 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 5 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  5 
9 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  5 
Annex A  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  6 
(informative)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  6 
Illustration of chickpeas  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  6 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  7 
 
  DARS 866: 2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  iii Foreword  
 
The African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) is an African intergovernmental organization 
established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Organization of 
African Unity (AU) in 1977. One of the fundamental mandates of  ARSO is to develop and harmonize 
African Standards (ARS) for the purpose of enhancing Africa’s internal trading capacity, increase 
Africa’s product and service competitiveness globally and uplift the welfare of African communities. The 
work of preparing A frican Standards is normally carried out through ARSO technical committees. Each 
Member State interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the 
right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, Regio nal Economic Communities 
(RECs), governmental and non -governmental organizations, in liaison with ARSO, also take part in the 
work.  
 
ARSO Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.  
 
The main task of techni cal committees is to prepare ARSO Standards. Draft ARSO Standards adopted 
by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an ARSO 
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.  
 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of 
patent rights. ARSO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
This African Standard was prepared by the ARSO Technical  Committee on Cereals, pulses and derived 
products (ARSO/TC 12).  
 
 
 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 2023 — All rights reserved* 
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P. O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel. +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
  
                                                 
* © 2023 ARSO — All rights of exploitation reserved worldwide for African Member States’ NSBs.  DARS 866: 2023  
iv © ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved   
Copyright notice  
 
This ARSO document is  copyright -protected by ARSO. While the reproduction of this document 
by participants in the ARSO standards development process is permitted without prior permission 
from ARSO, neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or 
transmitted in any form for any other purpose without prior written permission from ARSO.  
 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be 
addressed as shown below or to ARSO’s member body in the country of the reques ter: 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 2023  — All rights reserved  
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P.O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel: +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators  may be prosecuted.  
 
 
 
  DARS 866: 2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  v Introduction  
 
Chickpea is grown in tropical, sub -tropical and temperate regions. Chickpea makes up more than 20 
percent of world pulse production, behind dry bean s and pea s. Kabuli type is grown in temperate 
regions while the Desi type chickpea is grown in the semi -arid tropics. Chickpea is consumed as a dry 
pulse crop or as a green vegetable with the former use being most common. Seeds average about 20% 
protein, 5% fat and 55% carbohydrate. Seeds are sold in markets either dry or canned.  Chickpea seeds 
are eaten fresh as green vegetables, parched, fried, roasted, and boiled; as snack food, sweet and 
condiments; seeds are milled  and the flour can be used as soup, dhal, and to make bread; prepared 
with pepper, salt and lemon it is served as a side dish. Dhal is the split chickpea without its seedcoat, 
dried and cooked into a thick soup or milled  into flour for snacks and sweetmeats. Sprouted seeds are 
eaten as a vegetable or added to salads. Young plants and green pods are eaten  like spinach. Animal 
feed is another use of chickpea in many countries. Gr een husks, and green or dried stems and leaves 
are used for stock feed; whole seeds may be milled directly for feed. Chickpeas yield 21% starch 
suitable for textile sizing, giving a  light finish to silk, wool, and cotton cloth.  
 
Chickpeas are part of the strategic food commodity basket recognized by the declaration of the African 
Union Food Security Summit held in December 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria. This standard was harmonized 
as part of the response by the resolution of the AU Food Security Summit to harmonize standards and 
grades for strategic food commodities as a means of promoting and facilitating intra -African food trade. 
Such facilitation would lead to free movement of food commo dities from areas of surplus to areas of 
deficit, leading to overall achievement of food and nutrition security, food self -sufficiency and 
socioeconomic development of the African continent.  
 
 
 DARS 866:2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  1  
Dry c hickpeas — Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This Draft African  Standard specifies requirements , sampling and test  methods for dry chickpeas  of the varieties 
(cultivars) grown from Cicer arieti num (L.) intended for human consumption.  
 
2 Normative references  
 
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the 
latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
 
ARS 53, General principles of food hygiene — Code of practice  
 
ARS 56, Prepackaged foods — Labelling  
 
AOAC Official Method 999.10:1999, Determination of lead, cadmium, copper, iron and zinc in foods — Atomic 
absorption spectrophotometry after microwave digestion  
 
AOAC Official Method 999.11:1999, Determination of lead, cadmium, copper, iron and zinc in foods — Atomic 
absorption spectrophotometry after dry ashing  
 
AOAC Official Method 2001.04, Determination of Fumonisins B 1 and B 2 in corn and corn flakes — Liquid 
chromatography with immunoaffinity column cleanup  
 
CODEX STAN 193, Codex general standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
 
ISO 605 , Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign odours, insects, and species and variety — Test 
methods  
 
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal  method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp. 
 
ISO 6888  (all parts) , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)  
 
ISO 7251,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
 
ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of yeasts 
and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0.95  
 
ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling  
 
ISO 24557, Pulses — Determination of moisture content — Air-oven method  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
 
For the purpose s of this document,  the following terms and definition s apply . 
 
3.1 
dry chickpeas  
dry mature grains of Cicer arieti num (L.) 
  
AFRICAN STANDARD  DARS 866: 2023  
2 © ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  3.2 
contaminated peas  
grain containing any substance in sufficient quantity that  renders  grain is unfit for consumption by persons or 
animals or is adulterated within the meaning of the regulations on food safety  
 
3.3 
damage d 
whole or broken chickpeas that are sprouted, frost damaged, heated, pest damaged, distinctly deteriorated or 
discoloured by weather or disease, or that are otherwise damaged in a way that seriously affects their quality  
 
3.4 
pest damaged peas  
grain showing damage from attack by rodents, insects, mites or other pests  
 
3.5 
mouldy chickpeas  
chickpeas with visible m ycelial growth on their surface  
 
3.6 
immature/shrivelled grain  
chickpeas which are underdeveloped and wrinkled over the entire surface  
 
3.7 
rotten and diseased  
chickpeas affected by mould growth or bacterial decomposition, or other causes that may be noticed without 
having to cut the grains to examine them and render them unsafe for human consumption  
 
3.8 
discoloured chickpeas  
chickpeas which are damaged by heat, frost or water  
 
3.9 
shrivelled chickpeas  
chickpeas  which are under -developed and wrinkled over their entire surface  
 
3.10 
broken  
broken pieces of peas that are less than three -quarters of the whole seed, and cotyledons that are loosely held 
together by the seed coat  
 
3.11 
contrasting varieties  
other varieties that are of a different colour, size, or shape from the g rains of the designated variety  
 
3.12 
food grade packaging material  
material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not impart any 
toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the product  
 
3.13 
foreign matter  
all organic and inorganic material other than dry or broken  and other edible grains  
 
3.13.1 
inorganic foreign matter  
stones, glass, pieces of soil and other mineral matter   
 
  DARS 866:2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  3  
3.13.2 
organic foreign matter  
any animal or plant matter (seed coats, straws, weeds) other than dry chickpeas , broken dry chickpeas , 
inorganic extraneous  matter and harmful/toxic seeds.  
 
3.14 
filth 
impurities of animal origin including dead insects, rodent  hair and excreta  
 
3.15 
poisonous, toxic and/or harmful seeds  
any seed which if present in quantities above permissible limit may have damaging or dangerous effect on 
health, organoleptic properties or technological performance such as Jimson weed — Datura  (D. fastuosa  L. 
and D. stramonium  L.) corn co ckle (Agrostemma githago  L., Machai Lallium remulenum  L.) Akra (Vicia species) , 
Argemone mexicana , Khesari and other seeds that are commonly recognized as harmful to health  
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 General  requirements  
 
Dry chickpeas shall be:  
 
a) the dried mature grains of Cicer arietinum (L.); 
 
b) clean, well -filled, wholesome, uniform in size, shape, colour and in sound merchantable conditions;  
 
c) free from substances which render them unfit for human consumption;  
 
d) free from abnormal flavours, musty, sour or other undesirable odour,  obnoxious smell  and discolouration;  
 
e) free of pests, live animals, animal droppings, fungus infestation, added colouring matter, moulds, 
impurities of plant and animal origin  including insects,  rodent hair and excreta  and shall meet any other 
sanitary and phytosanitary requirements;  and 
 
f) free from toxic or noxious seeds that are commonly recognized as harmful to health.  
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
 
4.2.1  Grading  
 
Chickpeas shall be graded  into three grades on the basis of the tolerable limits established in Table 1 when 
tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein  which shall be additional to the general 
requirements set out in this standard.  
  DARS 866: 2023  
4 © ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  Table 1 — Spec ific requirements for d ry chickpeas  
 
S/N Characteristic  Limit  
% m/m, max.  Test method  
Grade 1  Grade 2  Grade 3  
i.  Foreign matter  1.0 3.0 3.0 
ISO 605  ii.  Inorganic matter  0.1 0.5 0.70 
iii.  Broken grains  1 2 3 
iv.  Pest damaged grains  2 4 6 
v.  Rotten and diseased grains  0.5 0.5 1 
vi.  Discoloured grains  2 2 2 
vii.  Immature/shrivelled grains  3 5 8 
viii.  Filth 0.1 0.1 0.1 
ix.  Other edible grains  0.1 0.5 3.0 
x.  Contrasting varieties   0.5 1.0 2.0 
xi.  Total defective chickpeas  3.0 6.0 8.0 
xii.  Moisture  14.0 14.0 14.0 ISO 24557  
NOTE  The parameter, total defective chickpeas is not the sum total of the individual defects. It is limited to 70% of 
the sum total of individual defects.  
 
5 Contaminants  
 
5.1 Heavy metals  
 
Chickpeas  shall comply with those maximum limits for heavy metal contaminants specified in CODEX STAN 
193. 
 
5.2 Pesticide residues  
 
Chickpeas  shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission for this commodity . 
 
6 Hygiene  
 
6.1 Chickpeas  shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with the provisions of appropriate 
sections of ARS 53 . 
 
6.2 When tested by appropriate methods in the standards  listed in Clause 2, the product  
 
a) shall be free from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a hazard to health and shall not 
exceed the limits stipulated in Table 3; and 
 
b) shall not contain any substance originating from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a 
hazard to healt h. 
 
Table 3 — Microbiological limits  for dry chickpeas  
 
S/N Micro-organism  Limit  Test method  
i.  Yeasts and moulds, max. per g  105 ISO 21527 -2 
ii.  Staphylococcus aureus , cfu per g, max.  103 ISO 6888  
iii.  E. coli, per g  Absent  ISO 7251  
iv.  Salmonella,  per 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  DARS 866:2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  5 7 Packaging  
 
7.1 Chickpeas  shall be packed in suitable food grade packag ing materials  which shall be clean, sound, free 
from insect, fungal infestation and the packing material shall be of food grade quality  and shall be securely 
closed and sealed.  
 
7.2 Chickpeas shall be packed in containers which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, and organoleptic 
qualities of the products.  
 
7.3 Each package shall contain chickpeas  of the same type and of the same grade designation.  
 
8 Labelling  
 
8.1 Labelling of retail packages  
 
In addition to the requirements in ARS 56 , each package shall be legibly and indelibly marked with the following:  
 
a) product name as “Chickpeas”;  
 
b) variety;  
 
c) grade;  
 
d) name, address and physical location of the producer/ packer/importer;  
 
e) lot/batch/code number;  
 
f) net weight, in SI units ; 
 
g) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption’’ ; 
 
h) storage instruction as “Store in a cool dry place away from any contaminants’’;  
 
i) crop year;  
 
j) packing date;  
 
k) instructions on disposal of used  package;  
 
l) country of origin;  and 
 
m) a declaration on whether the chickpeas were genetically modified or not.  
 
8.2 Labelling of non-retail containers  
 
Information detailed in 8. 1 shall be given either on the container or in accompanying documents, except that the 
name of the product, lot identification and the name and address of the processor or packer as well as storage 
instructions, shall appear on the container.  
 
For products  purchased for use by the buyer /retailer , at least the name of producer, l ot number and/or ‘crop 
year’  shall be indicated on the container.  
 
Lot identification and the name and address of the processor or packer may be replaced by an identification 
mark pr ovided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying documents.  
 
9 Sampling  
 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with the ISO 24333 . 
  DARS 866: 2023  
6 © ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved   
 
Annex A  
(informative)  
 
Illustration of chickpeas  
 
 
 
 
  
DARS 866:2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  7 Bibliography  
 
 
[1] EAS 754 :2012, Chickpeas — Specification  
 
[2] Chickpeas  Official Grain Grading Guide, August 1, 20 12, Canadian Grain Commission  
 
[3] Pulses Grading and Marking Rules , 2003, Schedule XII, Grade designation and definition of quality of 
Kabuli Chana , Ministry o f Agriculture, India, 7th April 2004  
 
[4] Ethiopian Standards, ES 18:2001, Pulses — Grading of chickpeas  
 
[5] CODEX STAN 171 :1989 (Rev. 1 :1995) , Standard for Certain Pulses  
 
[6] Australian Pulse Standards, 2012/2013 — Chickpeas  minimum receival standard s 
 
 DARS 866: 2023  
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved