Cooking Quality of Lentils Produced under Mediterranean Conditions

Abstract

Cooking quality (CQ) is the main quality criterion in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) and is affected by several factors. Phosphorus fertilization is a common agricultural practice in alkaline P‐poor soils, but studies examining its impact on CQ of lentils are lacking. Four lentil cultivars (three green and one red‐seeded) were tested over two growing seasons, under rainfed Mediterranean conditions, with P as the only nutrient input. The CQ of seeds was estimated using a texture analyzer, and the puncture energy (PE, inversely related to CQ) was calculated. A suite of seed traits (percentage of seed coat weight, 1000‐seed weight, seed softness and protein concentration of hulled and dehulled seeds, and seed coat anatomy) were measured. Moreover, P, K, Na, Ca, and Mg (their sums and ratios) in seeds (hulled and dehulled) were measured to assess their role in CQ. Phosphorus had no significant effect on CQ, but its impact was evident on the chemical composition of the seed coat. Seed coat anatomy was affected only by cultivars. Significant correlations between PE and seed traits for the growth season × cultivar interaction were obtained only for the green‐seeded lentils. In contrast with previous findings, P concentration in hulled seeds was negatively associated with CQ in green lentils; the opposite was evident for Ca. On the other hand, the protein concentration of dehulled seeds was negatively correlated with PE (positively with CQ), indicating that it was the cotyledonary factor influencing CQ by contributing to water absorption.