## 3 Results and Discussion
### Determination of Antioxidant Activity and Ability to Chelate Fe2+
It is pertinent to note that the accumulation of heavy metals and certain metal ions in the body can have adverse effects on human health. Specifically, Fe\({}^{2+}\) ions, under the conditions of oxidative stress, play a role in catalyzing the Fenton reaction, thereby contributing to the formation of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals that exert prooxidative effects on lipids, potentially leading to atherosclerotic lesions [43]. Consequently, ensuring a diet rich in compounds capable of binding and inactivating such metal ions exerting a negative impact on human health is considered a crucial strategy. Therefore, the investigation also evaluated the ability of the legume-derived beverages to chelate Fe\({}^{2+}\) ions. The results (Table 5) indicated a slight increase in the ability of the beverages derived from chickpeas and red lentils to chelate iron (II) ions following the fermentation process. However, studies conducted by [PERSON] et al. [44] and [PERSON] et al. [26] did not corroborate a significant effect of fermentation on the ability of plant-based beverages to chelate iron (II). It is proposed that the observed variability in the measured bioactivity may be attributed to variations in the content of phenolic compounds present in the raw plant material [42]. This \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Tested Beverage**} & **Radical Scavenging Activity** & \multirow{2}{*}{**Fe\({}^{2+}\) Chelating Capacity (\%)**} \\  & **(DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) Inhibition \%)** & \\ \hline Ch-0 & 25.31 \(\pm\) 6.18 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 23.12\(\pm\) 4.65 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) \\ Ch-72 & 88.07 \(\pm\) 1.04 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 28.13\(\pm\) 6.98 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ GL-0 & 40.40 \(\pm\) 5.68 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 58.33 \(\pm\) 2.35 \({}^{\text{c}}\) \\ GL-72 & 88.44 \(\pm\) 4.24 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 27.49 \(\pm\) 4.02 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) \\ RL-0 & 60.07 \(\pm\) 3.99 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 22.20 2.25 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ RL-72 & 86.28\(\pm\) 4.14 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 24.29\(\pm\) 5.50 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{Explanatory notes: Ch—beverage variant obtained from chicken; RL—beverage variant obtained from red lentil; GL—beverage variant obtained from green lentil; “-0” indicates the control (unfermented) beverage, while “-/2” refers to products obtained after 72 h of fermentation (final product). Values expressed as mean values \(\pm\) mean standard deviation (x \(\pm\) s/SD; \(n=\) 6) followed by different lowering letters (in the same column) are significantly different (\(p<\) 0.05 level); the tested maximum concentration was 0.2 g/mL.  
\end{table} 
Table 5: Comparison of radical scavenging activity and ability to chelate Fe\({}^{2+}\) in the control and final products. may account for the differences noted in the values across the different variants of the tested beverages. Furthermore, the diverse biochemical transformations occurring during fermentation may have contributed to the alterations in the profiles of polyphenols, consequently influencing the capacity of the beverages to chelate Fe\({}^{2+}\). Nevertheless, the final products derived from chickpeas and red lentils had higher Fe\({}^{2+}\) chelating capacity (28.13 \(\pm\) 6.98% and 24.29 \(\pm\) 5.50%, respectively) compared to their respective control variants. Interestingly, the highest value of the measured activity was recorded for GL-0 (58.33 \(\pm\) 2.35%). This effect is likely associated with the adverse impact of pasteurization and the fermentation process on the content and stability of chlorophyll (particularly notable in the material derived from green lentils compared to the other legume products). Chlorophyll exhibits strong antioxidative and chelating activity [45], which is also associated with molecular characteristics.