Potential of chickpea (Cicer aeritinum L.) as an oil crop

Abstract

The production of vegetable oils has been registering a constant increase of production and soybean is the largest source of vegetable oil in crop production globally. In addition to soybean, other legume species have the potential, in addition to the basic product-protein, to be a source of vegetable oil. One of these species is the chickpea. It is necessary to analyze the content and composition of the oil to determine the potential of chickpea as a source of oil. Four different genotypes of chickpea from the collection of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad were tested in 2010. Oil and protein content were measured and it was found that the highest oil content was in genotype 3 (5.43%), and highest protein content in genotype 4 (24.15%). Fatty acids composition in chickpea seed is very specific, and the presence of rare fatty acids, such as capric and lauric, and high content of saturated fatty acids - palmitic. The obtained preliminary results indicate that chickpea is of potential use as a source of oil intended for specific types of manufacturing industries, primarily in the pharmaceutical and confectionery industries, as well as cold-pressed oils, which could justify oil extraction through their value, as a by-product in the production of proteins.