Nutritional Profile of Grains and Dhals of Certain Promising Varieties of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Green Gram (Vigna radiata L.)

Abstract

Grains of promising varieties of chickpea and green gram were analyzed to depict the relative nutritional status of their whole grains and dhal as affected by processing treatment. No single variety in both the groups was found to possess superior levels of all the nutritional characteristics, however, variety KGD 1168 of chickpea and T44 of green gram were found noticeable in certain characteristics having direct bearing on their nutritional status. Significant varietal differences were observed in oil, protein, methionine and tryptophan content in both chickpea and green gram. Compared to whole grains, dhal samples of both chickpea and green gram varieties possessed superior nutritional status in having considerably higher levels of oil, protein, methionine and tryptophan with significantly lower levels of polyphenols. With the exception of oil content, green gram varieties were found significantly superior to chickpea in all the nutritional characteristics.