AN ASSESSMENT OF VARIATION FOR NUTRITIONAL AND NON-NUTRITIONAL CARBOHYDRATES IN LENTIL SEEDS (LENS-CULINARIS)

The levels of the raffinose family of alpha-galactosides (raffinose, s tachyose, verbascose and ciceritol) and of the nutritional carbohydrat es (fructose, sucrose and starch) were determined in the seed of a ran ge of lentil lines from germplasm collections and commercial Spanish c ultivars. Significant levels of variation were found for all the measu red characters, and particularly for the alpha-galactosides. The great est variation was found in verbascose content, which ranged from about 1% of the seed dry weight to undetectable amounts. The relationship b etween these chemical components and morphological seed characteristic s was assessed. The only significant relationship between the differen t groups of characteristics was a positive correlation between the lev el of verbascose and the average seed weight for each genotype.