Variability of Some Physico-chemical Characters in Desi and Kabuli Chickpea Types

Abstract

A collection of 50 chickpea accessions (26 kabuli and 24 desi types) was evaluated for 2 years for eight physico-chemical seed characters: 100-seed weight, hydration capacity, hydration index, coat thickness and contents of protein, oil, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and starch. Significant differences were found between desi and kabuli types for the majority of the characters. The variance component due to the genotype×year interaction was important for the hydration index, starch and protein content, showing the importance of the year effect on genotypic expression of these characters. One kabuli accession and five desi accessions with high and stable protein content were selected. There was no overlap between the variation limits of desi and kabuli for coat thickness and ADF content. There were high positive and significant correlations between seed weight and oil content for both types of chickpea.