COOKING QUALITY AND NUTRITIONAL ATTRIBUTES OF SOME NEWLY DEVELOPED CULTIVARS OF CHICKPEA (CICER-ARIETINUM)

Eight newly developed and two commonly grown chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) cultivars were evaluated for their cooking quality by measuring cooking time, water absorption and sensory properties. Nutritional aspects of cooked whole seed samples were measured chemically (including amino acids and minerals) and biologically in nitrogen-balance experiments with rats. Results indicated that kabuli (cream seed coat) may be generally preferred to desi (brown seed coat) cultivars in terms of cooking time and sensory properties. Calcium content was noticeably higher in desi than in kabuli cultivars, whereas magnesium, iron, copper and zinc showed no definite trend. Levels of lysine, threonine, methionine and cystine of these genotypes were within the range of FAO values. Desi and kabuli revealed no noticeable difference in protein and amino acids. However, biological value was considerably higher for kabuli than for desi. Consequently, kabuli contained more utilisable protein and may be nutritionally better than desi. In general, cooking quality and nutritional aspects of both newly developed and control cultivars were similar.