Understanding genotypic variation and identification of promising genotypes for iron and zinc content in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea known as poor man's meat has the potential to ameliorate micronutrient deficiencies. The objective was to understand heritable variation for zinc and iron in a diverse panel of 402 germplasm at two locations. Zinc and iron contents ranged from 1.10 to 5.91 mg/100 g to 0.50-8.54 mg/100 g, respectively and are comparable to some of the best biofortified crops of Harvest Plus target levels. Chickpea cultivars released for commercial cultivation were found to contain higher amounts of grain zinc and iron at both the locations. Analysis of phytic acid in cultivars with higher mineral contents showed negative correlation with zinc and iron. Heera, H82-2 and H214 for Zn; and L550, KGD1168, PG114, JG74 and ICCV6 for Fe are the cultivars identified with higher contents of Zinc (> 4 mg/100 g) and iron (> 6 mg/100 g). Promoting production of such iron and zinc rich cultivars will help in increasing availability and consumption of high quality chickpea necessary to alleviate hidden hunger.