Genetic Variability for Vitamin B9 and Total Dietary Fiber in Lentil (Lens culinaris L.) Cultivars

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the genetic variability of two major health-promoting bioactive components in lentil (lens culinaris L.) cultivars. The total dietary fiber content in lentil genotypes was analyzed using a combination of enzymatic and gravimetric methods utilizing the Total Dietary Fiber Assay Kit (Sigma Chemicals, St. Louis, USA). The total dietary fiber varied significantly in the range of 10 ± 1 to 21 ± 1 g/100 g lentil dry seed weight with an average of 15.0 g/100 g lentil dry seed weight (p < 0.1). Further, a significant genotypic difference was also recorded in the lentil genotypes (p < 0.1) for folate content which was estimated using the trienzyme extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography method with an average value of 222 µg/100 g lentil dry seed weight. The range of variability for folate content was 114 ± 3 to 330 ± 7 µg/100 g dry seed weight, except in one of the genotype IG-163, where the folate content was recorded as high as 448 ± 7 µg/100 g dry seed weight. The mean total dietary fiber and folate content of Mediterranean landraces of lentil was higher (18 g/100 g and 247 µg/100 g lentil dry seed weight) as compared to the other genotypes (15 g/100 g and 198 µg/100 g lentil dry seed weight), respectively.