Chemical composition and nutritional value of Mexican varieties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

Chemical composition and protein quality of the main chickpea varieties cultivated in Mexico were determined. The raw and cooked chickpeas analyzed were: Surutato, Surutato 77, Sonora, Sonora 80, Porquero, Macarena, Breve Duro and a mixture of broken seeds used mainly for animal feeding. The chemical composition of the raw chickpea studied was very similar; the average values of the nutrients were: ash 3.1 +/- 0.2, fat 5.0 +/- 1.0, protein 19.5 +/- 1.2 and fiber 3.7 +/- 2.1. Cooking diminished only the ash content and the Porquero variety was the only one that had a high content of crude fiber (9.1%). There was not found agglutinating activity to rabbit RBC in any of the raw chickpeas studied and the trypsin inhibitor activity average was 11.8 +/- 2.4 TUI/mg sample. Cooking destroyed 57% of this activity. Digestibility was the same in the raw and in the cooked chickpea (78%). There were not found significant differences in the PER values of the raw and cooked seeds: 1.65-2.30 and 1.80 to 2.61 respectively. The Surutato and Breve Duro varieties were statistically similar to the casein PER (2.5). It could be recommended to use these two varieties mainly for infant feeding.