## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Nutritional Evaluation of the Experimental Chips  
The nutritional evaluation of the experimental chips for the protein, fat, total dietary fibers, ash, and energy determination is shown in Table 3. Lentils are among the typical pulses with the higher protein content after lupin and faba bean, with a 23-31% total protein content [21]. This value was confirmed in our experimental CTRc sample based on 70.20% DLF, where the total protein content was 24.03%. HSR possessed a protein content of 9.70% [13], and its 5% addition determined a modest but significant protein decrease in the HSC5% experimental sample, with a value of 23.09 g/100 g. Moreover, despite the HSR addition, the protein content found for HSC5% was similar to other 100% lentil fried snacks previously investigated in the literature where the protein content was 22.79% [22]. The fat content of lentil ranges from 2.6-2.8% [21]; in the CTRc experimental sample, fat content rose to 4.08% with the presence of EVOO in the recipe (Table 1). Moreover, the 5% HSR addition to the experimental chips determined a significant increase in total fat content from 4.08% to 6.68% due to the high-fat content of HSR (26.71%) [13]. Anyway, considering the oven-baking process, the increase in lipid content in these experimental samples is limited in comparison to the frying method, which determined a higher amount of lipids in the 100% lentil flour snacks (i.e., 17%) [22]. Consequently, due to the higher amount of lipids in HSC5%, a slight increase in total calories in HSC5% was found, 388.55 kcal/100 g, in comparison to 384.86 kcal/100 g in CTRc, although it should be considered that HSR lipid fractions are mostly constituted of monounsaturated oleic acid (i.e., 80.50%) [13]. However, despite the significant increase in lipid content in HSC5%, the caloric increase was slight due to the greater presence of HSR fibers. Indeed, it is known from the literature that lentills have variable fiber content ranging from 7 to 23% of total dietary fibers [21], and in the CTRc experimental sample, the contribution to the total dietary fiber nutritional component is due only to DLF, which determined an 11.71% total dietary fiber content (Table 3). Significant increase after HSR addition was found for the total dietary fibers (from 11.71% in CTRc to 15.63% in HSC5%) and ash (from 3.03% in CTRc to 3.39% in HSC5%) in consideration of the high value previously found for HSR (44.13% and 3.19% for total dietary fibers and ash, respectively) [23]. It should be noted that since the fiber content of HSC5% is more than 6% (15.63 g/100 g), this food may have the nutritional claim of \"high fiber content\" in Europe, as defined by the Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and lastly amended by Regulation (EU) No 1047/2012. In the literature, other strategies were applied to increase the fiber content of red lentil snacks. Among the most significant, the recent paper of [PERSON] and [PERSON] analyzed the amount of total dietary fiber in extruded-lentil snacks 10-20% enriched with three dietary fiber sources (i.e., carrot powder, wheat bran, and red lentil hull) [24]. The higher total dietary fiber content was found for the 20% carrot powder-enriched lentil snack due to the higher total dietary fibers found in the carrot powder (45.99%) [24], comparable to HSR (44.13%). Therefore, considering the significant increase that was obtained with 5% \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Protein 1** & **Fat** & **Carbohydrate 2** & **Total Dietary Fibers** & **Ash** & **kcal/100 g** & **kJ/100 g** \\ \hline _CTRc_ & 24.03 \(\pm\) 0.11 a & 4.08 \(\pm\) 0.27 b & 57.15 & 11.71 \(\pm\) 0.46 b & 3.03 \(\pm\) 0.02 b & 384.86 & 1610.24 \\ \hline _HS5\%_ & 23.09 \(\pm\) 0.21 b & 6.68 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & 51.21 & 15.63 \(\pm\) 0.05 a & 3.39 \(\pm\) 0.05 a & 388.55 & 1625.71 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Proximate composition of experimental and control chips (g/100 g).