Intrinsic variability of mineral composition of chickpea (Cicer arietinum, L.)

The influence of genetic biotype on the mineral composition of chickpea was studied. Experimental design included 37 cultivars of both Desi and Kabuli biotypes cultivated under the same climatic and agronomic conditions in order to exclude the variability of the results due to environment and genotype x environment interaction effects. The biotype, as source of variance in mineral composition, was a significant factor in explaining differences between Ca, Mg and K contents. Cu, Fe, Mn, Na and Zn contents did not show differences between biotypes. According to data previously published, differences may be explained by differences in the coat thickness and composition between biotypes. Two homogeneous subgroups of chickpea cultivars were identified, one having relatively high calcium contents and the other having relatively high iron contents. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.