## 3 Results and Discussion
### Determination of Antioxidant Activity and Ability to Chelate Fe2+  
The accumulation of free radicals is widely recognized as a major factor in the pathophysiology of numerous civilization diseases and various health disorders attributable to the adverse effects of oxidative stress ([PERSON] and [PERSON], 2017). Therefore, the mitigation of the detrimental effects of these reactive molecules necessitates the provision of sufficient quantities of antioxidant compounds to bolster the body's inherent defense mechanisms against long-term oxidative stress conditions. It has been proposed that the fermentation process exerts a positive influence on the free radical scavenging properties of plant-derived food products ([PERSON] and [PERSON], 2017). This is in agreement with the present results indicating that the fermentation of the legume-based beverage variants significantly enhanced their antioxidant properties (Table 5). The final products (beverages fermented for 72 h) exhibited significantly higher abilities to neutralize free radicals than their unfentmented counterparts. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sequence**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Molecular**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Variant of Lentil Beverage**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Probability of Peptide**} \\  & & **Mass [Da]** & **RL-0** & **RL-48** & **RL-72** & **GL-0** & **GL-48** & **GL-72** & **Bioactivity \({}^{*}\) \\ \hline CLQRIFK & 963.53 & + & + & + & \(-\) & \(-\) & \(-\) & 0.631 \\ HPTFILCSRK & 1257.67 & + & + & + & \(-\) & \(-\) & \(-\) & 0.572 \\ MEMFDLEFMRR & 1503.67 & + & + & + & \(-\) & \(-\) & \(-\) & 0.754 \\ SLGSNTPINMIR & 1301.68 & \(-\) & \(-\) & \(-\) & \(+\) & \(+\) & \(+\) & 0.606 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Sequences of potential biopeptides detected in lentil-based beverages. Among all the control variants, RL-0 exhibited the strongest antioxidant properties (60.07 \(\pm\) 3.99% of DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) inhibition), while the lowest levels of DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) inhibition were observed in Ch-0 (25.31 \(\pm\) 6.18%). However, the chickpea-derived beverages were distinguished from all the final products by the most substantial increase (3.5-fold) in the tested bioactivity, reaching up to 88.33 \(\pm\) 0.92% of DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) inhibition (Table 5). The findings presented herein are consistent with those reported by [PERSON] et al. [31], who observed that the fermentation process contributed to enhancing the antioxidant activity (up to 206%) and improving the nutritional quality of soybean products. Moreover, the present results (Table 5) align with the findings shown by [PERSON] et al. [36], who examined the capacity of soya beverages fermented with probiotic strains of _L. bulgaricus_ and _S. thermophilus_ to neutralize free radicals. They reported a three-fold increase in the antioxidant activity of fermented products (expressed as a percentage of DPPH radical inhibition capacity) compared to unfermented control samples. Similar outcomes were also described by [PERSON] et al. [28] in their analyses of soya beverages fermented with _L. plantarum_ YS-1 or _L. bulgaricus_ strains. Soya products fermented by _L. plantarum_ exhibited a strong ability to inhibit free radicals (80.3%), comparable to the values demonstrated by the final products (Ch-72, RL-72, and GL-72) fermented by _L. plantarum_ 299v. The augmentation of the antioxidant activity observed in fermented legume products has been attributed to the rise in both the content and accessibility of phenolic compounds [20]. These components undergo conversion during fermentation into liberated and highly biologically active forms capable of effective neutralization of free radicals. Additionally, the antioxidative properties inherent in fermented plant-based products are linked to the presence of viable lactic bacterial cells and their repertoire of enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms. These biochemical reactions function to impede the generation and activity of reactive oxygen species [42].