AMINO-ACID-COMPOSITION, FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION AND LEVELS OF PROTEASEINHIBITORS IN SEEDS OF WILD ARACHIS SPECIES

Seventeen germplasm accessions, representing six sections of genus Ara chis and two groundnut cultivars as controls, were grown in pots under uniform conditions at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The 100-seed mass of wild species was lower than that of cultivated. The relative concentration of protein and essential amino acids in wild Arachis species in general fall with in the range reported for cultivated groundnut. Oil content in wild ac cessions was relatively higher than that of cultivated groundnut. Lino leic acid and nutritionally undesirable saturated long chain fatty aci ds, such as behenic and lignoceric acids, were higher in wild species than in cultivated species. Trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors in wil d species were higher than in cultivated groundnut.