Nutritional and antinutritional profile of newly developed chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) varieties

In this study the variability in nutritional composition, mineral profile, antinutritional factors and in vitro starch digestibility of five desi and four kabuli chickpea cultivars were studied. Proximate composition varied significantly (p 0.05) among different types of chickpea cultivars. The crude protein content varied from 18 to 31% being higher in kabuli chickpea cultivars than desi chickpea. The iron was the most abundant mineral present in all the cultivars of chickpea (4.6 to 10.5%). In addition appreciable amount of zinc was also present in all nine varieties of chickpea. Among antinutritional factors tannin concentration ranged from 0.07 to 0.22% and trypsin inhibitor’s content ranged from 9 to 31 mg/g in both the cultivars of chickpea. In vitro starch digestibility was found significantly (p 0.05) higher in kabuli chickpea than desi chickpea cultivars. Among the analyzed chickpea cultivars K850 in desi and PUSA 1108, PUSA 1088 and PUSA1053 in kabuli cultivars had good potential as a food crop therefore their cultivation and utilization should be encouraged.