Nutritional quality of kabuli and desi chickpea in Argentina: Effects of environment

Abstract

The environment to which a crop is exposed during the growing season has a signif-icant impact on seed composition. The objectives of this study were to (1) estimatethe contribution of genotype (G), environment (E), and their interaction (G × E)to the agronomic features and seed quality of chickpea and (2) identify climaticvariables that significantly affect chickpea nutritional composition. A total of 10 pre-commercial and commercial cultivars of Cicer arietinum L. were evaluated in 15environments in Argentina. Average plant height ranged between 44.7 and 55.2 cm,100-seed weight was 38 and 27 g, and grain yield was 750 and 1500 kg ha−1 for kab-uli and desi chickpea, respectively. The results obtained from the variance componentanalysis showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) contributions of the effects of G,E, and G × E interaction on the nutritional quality of chickpea seeds. Protein, car-bohydrates, and mineral content were mostly affected by E, whereas oil content wasG-dependent. Only tocopherols were affected by G × E interaction. The total phe-notypic variance is mostly composed of environmental effects captured during theseed filling period. High mean daily air temperature had a negative effect on carbo-hydrates and increased protein and mineral content. The fatty acid profile and gammatocopherol contents were affected by accumulated precipitation and evapotranspira-tion. Air humidity was negatively correlated with protein content and iodine value.Results from this research are useful for breeders to broaden the genetic background of chickpea genotypes and for farmers to identify climatic conditions that impactgrain quality.