Chickpea – nutritional quality and role in alleviation of global malnourishment

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) constitute a well-balanced source of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals essential to combat malnourishment in human populations. The various seed constituents show large variations in abundance between genotypes, which allow selection of lines for both calorie-rich and calorie-reduced diets. Chickpea with a high protein content combined with high digestibility is preferred in diets where food is scarce. In diets of affluent cultures, chickpeas with good vitamin, fatty acid and mineral balance combined with low digestibility would have a preference. The major challenges in chickpea improvement are development of region-specific genotypes with reduced content of anti-nutritional constituents such as the raffinose family of oligosaccharides. This improvement would encourage a wider use of chickpea-based diets around the world