Variations in lipid composition among chickpea cultivars

Seeds of 60 cultivars of chickpea,Cicer arietinum, from three countries were dehulled and the ground cotyledons evaluated for composition of lipids and lipoxygenase. the average lipid contents of Iraqi‐, Indian‐and Canadian‐grown samples were 5.3, 6.6 and 7.3%, respectively. While palmitic and stearic acids were uniformly about 9.3 and 1.5% of total fatty acids in the lipids, the proportions of oleic and linoleic acids varied from 36 and 50% for Iraqi samples to 17 and 68% for Canadian‐grown samples, respectively. Linolenic acid values ranged from 2.1 to 4.5% of total fatty aids and, with lipoxygenase activities averaging one‐half that of soybean, the potential for oxidative rancidity in chickpea flours was substantial, especially in northern‐grown samples.