Composition and correlation between major seed constituents in selected lentil (Lens culinaris. Medik) genotypes

Abstract

Tahir, M., Lindeboom, N., Båga, M., Vandenberg, A. and Chibbar, R. N. 2011. Composition and correlation between major seed constituents in selected lentil ( Lens culinaris Medik.) genotypes. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 825–835. Development of lentil cultivars with increased seed amylose, protein and reduced concentration of anti-nutritional constituents are desired from the perspectives of lentil utilization and human health. In selected lentil genotypes, we studied seed weight, seed coat weight and color, seed composition and the association between major quality traits. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) variation existed for all traits except seed coat weight. The starch and protein concentrations ranged from 39.4 to 45.3 g and from 23.8 to 29.3 g 100 g−1 flour DM whereas the amylose concentration ranged from 29.8 to 34.0 g 100 g−1 starch. Glucose, sucrose and raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) concentrations of lentil genotypes ranged from 0.04 to 0.08 g, from 0.7 to 2.4 g, and from 4.6 to 6.6 mmoles 100 g−1 flour DM, respectively. Raffinose, stachyose and verbascose concentrations varied from 1.6 to 2.4 g, from 1.7 to 2.9 g, and from 1.2 to 1.9 g 100 g−1 flour DM, respectively. A significant (P ≤ 0.05) positive correlation existed between 1000-seed weight and starch, 1000-seed weight and RFO and sucrose concentration. Similarly, a significant (P ≤ 0 .05) negative correlation was found between starch and protein concentration, 1000-seed weight and protein concentration, and 1000-seed weight and amylose concentration. The lack of a significant correlation between RFO and other quality traits indicates that selection for low RFO concentration may not affect other important quality traits in lentil seeds.