Date of Award

8-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Plant and Environmental Science

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Dil Thavarajah

Committee Member

Dr. Lucas Boatwright

Committee Member

Dr. William Bridges

Committee Member

Dr. Shiv Kumar Agrawal

Abstract

Pulse crops are dry grains of legumes, the second most consumed plant crops in the world after cereals. These crops are one of the primary sources of plant-based protein and contain high concentrations of pre-biotic carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Recognizing the health benefits of pulses intake, their demands as sustainable food and changes in people’s diet preferences for plant-based protein have increased awareness for pulses consumption. With this scenario, improving the nutritional profile of pulse crops for rich nutrition has been an opportunity for breeders to explore and tailor the available germplasm to develop nutrient dense pulses. Furthermore, the genomic resources developed for pulse crops in recent decades would be crucial tools to define the genetics of quality traits to narrow the knowledge gap for central genes contributing towards seed nutrition. To bridge the gap for genes leading to nutritional phenotypes, the present research includes nutritional evaluation of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) which are two major pulse crops consumed globally. The study performs nutritional profiling of germplasm phenotypically and genotypically for protein quality traits (protein concentration, Sulphur containing amino acids-SAAs concentration and percent protein digestibility-PDg) in lentil and for fatty acids composition (Palmitic acid-PA, linoleic acid-LA, alpha linoleic acid-ALA and oleic acid-OA) and minerals composition (Calcium-Ca, copper-Cu, iron-Fe, magnesium-Mg, manganese-Mn, phosphorus-P, potassium-K, selenium-Se and zinc-Zn) in chickpea. Another chickpea study compares the agronomic (Days to maturity-DTM, canopy height-CP and 100-seed weight-HSW) and nutritional traits (Total starch-TS, total fats-TFA, total protein-TP and PDg) in commercial chickpea cultivars grown in conventional and organic cropping systems. Phenotyping indicates the wide range for these nutritional traits while genome wide association studies aid to identify several significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers and candidate genes associated with these traits. Cultivar comparisons in chickpea for nutritional traits in organic vs. conventional cropping system illustrate the impacts on nutritional quality in each system. This research, thus, emphasizes the key role of nutritional studies in achieving the breeding goals for consumer and market dependent objectives with improved or new germplasm and development of genomic sources for scientific communities for future.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1656-3515

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