Quality of western Canadian lentils 2016

Western Canadian green lentils

Table 4 shows quality characteristics for green lentil composites by seed size. Mean protein content for small-size green lentils (CDC Imvincible, CDC Viceroy, and Eston) was 27.8%, which was higher than the mean for 2015. Mean protein content for medium-size green lentils (CDC Imigreen, CDC Impress, and CDC Richlea) was 25.5%, which was higher than the mean for 2015. Protein content for large-size green lentils (CDC Glamis, CDC Grandora, CDC Greenland, CDC Greenstar, CDC Impower, CDC Improve, CDC Plato, CDC Sovereign, and Laird) was 26.5%, slightly higher than the mean for 2015. Mean starch contents for medium-size and large-size green lentils were similar to the means for 2015, while the mean for small-size green lentils was lower than the mean for 2015. Mean total dietary fiber contents for small-size, medium-size and large-size green lentils were higher than the means for all 3 sizes of lentils in 2015. Mean ash content for all 3 green lentil sizes was similar to levels in 2015. Potassium (K) was the most abundant macroelement present in green lentils, followed by phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) (Table 4). Among microelements, iron (Fe) was the highest, followed by zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu).

Mean 100-seed weights for small, medium and large-size green lentils were 2.5 grams, 4.7 grams and 6.1 grams, respectively (Table 4). Mean 100-seed weights for all 3 sizes of lentils were lower than the means for 2015. Mean water absorption values were 0.97 grams H₂O per gram seeds for small-size lentils, 1.01 grams H₂O per gram seeds for medium-size lentils and 1.01 grams H₂O per gram seeds for large-size lentils, which were higher than the means for 2015.

Seed size distribution for green lentils was determined by the image analysis technique (Table 5). The reported results may differ from those obtained by conventional sieving techniques. For small-size green lentils, approximately 70% of the seeds fell within 4.0 to 5.0 millimetres. For medium-size green lentils, 72% fell within 5.0 to 6.0 millimetres. For large-size green lentils, 82% fell within 5.5 to 7.0 millimetres.