Abstract: [Objective] This study aimed to determine the optimal extraction and processing method for total flavonoids from chickpea （Cicer arietinum）, and to evaluate the analgesic effect of chickpea total flavonoids （CTFs） on mice. [Method] The chickpeas produced in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were used as the experimental materials. The aluminum nitrate-sodium nitrite colorimetric method was employed to assess the contents of CTFs obtained through ultrasonic-assisted extraction, Soxhlet reflux extraction, micro-wave extraction, ultrasonic-assisted extraction+rotary evaporation treatment, Soxhlet reflux extraction+rotary evaporation treatment, ultrasonic-assisted extraction+freeze-drying treatment, respectively, to determine the optimal extraction and processing method for CTFs. Kunming mice were randomly assigned into 5 groups. The high, medium and low dose groups were gavaged with 60, 30 and 15 mg/(kg · BW) of CTFs. The positive control group was gavaged with 80 mg/（kg·BW） of aspirin. The blank control group was gavaged with 0.1 mL/（10 g·BW） of physiological saline. Each group was administered once daily for 3 consecutive days. According to the above grouping and administration scheme, the analgesic effects of different doses of CTFs on mice were evaluated using hot plate test （n=40, 8 mice in each group）, warm bath test （n=40, 8 mice in each group） and acetic acid twisting test （n=40, 8 mice in each group）. [Result] The CTFs obtained by different extraction and processing methods were as follows: ultrasonic-assisted extraction+freeze-drying treatment （51.18 mg/g）>Soxhlet reflux extraction （13.16 mg/g）>ultrasonic-assisted extraction （4.86 mg/g）>Soxhlet reflux extraction+rotary evaporation treatment （4.75 mg/g）>micro-wave extraction （3.03 mg/g）>ultrasonic-assisted extraction+rotary evaporation treatment （0.57 mg/g）. Hot plate test demonstrated that compared with the blank control group, CTFs high and low dose groups had extremely significantly （P<0.01） prolonged pain threshold at 10, 30 and 60 min after administration, while CTFs medium dose group exhibited significantly （P<0.05） prolonged pain threshold at 10 and 30 min after administration. CTFs medium and low dose groups had extremely significantly （P<0.01） prolonged pain threshold in warm bath test at 2 h after administration than the blank control group. CTFs high, medium and low dose groups had extremely significantly （P<0.01） reduced the frequency of twisting induced by acetic acid compared with the blank control group, with the pain inhibition rates of 35.44%, 35.44% and 61.37%, respectively. In addition, the frequency of twisting in CTFs low dose group was lower than that in the positive control group, with higher pain inhibition rate than that in the positive control group. [Conclusion] The optimal extraction and processing method for CTFs was ultrasound-assisted extraction+freeze-drying treatment. Different doses of CTFs had good analgesic effects on mice, with low dose [15 mg/（kg·BW）] having the best.

Key words: chickpea, total flavonoids, extraction method, ultrasonic-assisted extraction, freeze-drying treatment, analgesic effect