Nutritional Characteristics of Black Lentil from Soleto: A Single-Flower Vetch Landrace of Apulia Region (Southern Italy)

Abstract

Archaeological remains and historical documents demonstrate that a single-flower vetch has been cultivated in Italy from the early stages of agriculture. Some Italian communities have perpetuated the custom to eat its seeds still to the present. This is the case of people living in some villages of the southern Apulia region. In consequence of the high resemblance of the single-flower vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.) seeds with those of lentils, the Apulian landrace is locally named “lenticchia nera di Soleto” (black lentil from Soleto). The evaluation of seed nutritional traits of this landrace revealed good macronutrient contents (proteins and starch, 28.4 and 42.4 g/100 g respectively), low trypsin inhibitor levels (4.08 TIU/mg), short cooking times after soaking (24–25 min) and a lack of broken seeds at the end of cooking. The coat content of total phenolic compounds (TPC) of the Apulian black lentil was comparable with that of the lentil cv. Beluga (68.23 vs. 66.14 mg GAE/g, respectively).