Abstract
Efficient milling is the key economic trait for the red lentil industry. Various seed characteristics including seed coat color can influence milling characteristics. Four basic seed coat ground colors (green, gray, tan, and brown) of 16 red lentil genotypes from a common genetic background were compared to determine the effect of seed coat color genes on three key milling quality traits: dehulling efficiency (DE), milling recovery (MR), and football recovery (FR). These genotypes were grown at two locations in Saskatchewan, Canada for two years. DE, MR, and FR results varied depending on the seed coat color conferred by specific genotypes. Green and gray seed coat color (homozygous recessive tgc allele) genotypes had significantly higher DE and MR percentages compared to brown or tan seed coat types (homozygous dominant Tgc allele) depending on genotype interaction with site-year. Seeds with brown or tan seed coats had significantly higher FR percentages in two site-years. Red cotyledon lentils with uniform shape and green or gray seed coat color might be more profitable for millers who wish to maximize DE and MR of red lentil, but brown seed coat color might be preferable in terms of FR.
Highlights
Cultivated red lentil (Lens culinaris Medik., Fabaceae) is a good source of stable plant protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins; it is widely consumed as split cotyledons after dehulling, known as ‘milling’ (Vandenberg, 2009)
Sixteen recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of red cotyledon genotypes that differ in seed coat color (4 each of green, gray, brown, and tan phenotypes) were randomly selected from the 147 lines of the LR-18 lentil RIL population (Fedoruk et al, 2013) (Table 1; Figure 1) and used to determine milling quality parameters
The findings from this study suggest that the red lentil milling industry in northern temperate climatic zones might be able to increase dehulling efficiency (DE) and milling recovery (MR) recovery by using red lentils that have green or gray seed coat color
Summary
Cultivated red lentil (Lens culinaris Medik., Fabaceae) is a good source of stable plant protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins; it is widely consumed as split cotyledons after dehulling, known as ‘milling’ (Vandenberg, 2009). Reduction in dhal yield and value is attributed to seeds that are not successfully dehulled, due to loss caused by chipping and abrasion This reduction can vary according to whether genotypes are difficult or easy to dehull (Bruce, 2008; Wood et al, 2012). Seeds of specific pulse crop genotypes can vary in shape, size, chemistry, and composition of the seed coat, including the adhesive or cohesive mechanism occurring at the interface of seed tissues All of these factors play an important role in the efficiency of the dehulling process (Kurien, 1984; Erskine et al, 1991; Wood & Malcolmson, 2011). An inverse relationship between amount of seed coat and milling recovery has been reported in studies of pigeon pea, lentil, and chickpea (Wang, 2008; Wood et al, 2008; Wood et al, 2017)
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