H Wang1,2, B Tyler 2
1 Saskatchewan Health Authority, Regina, SK, 2College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan

In field peas, both seed weight and seed protein content are affected by genetic and environmental factors.

The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in weight and seed protein content of eight cultivars of field pea grown in two locations in Saskatchewan.

Twenty seeds of each field pea were selected randomly and weighed individually. The mean seed size, range in seed size, magnitude of the range in seed size (MR), standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) were calculated for each sample. Ten seeds were selected randomly from samples of two cultivars from one replication at each location and were analyzed for protein content.

The means in seed size of Meadow, Rosthern Rep II (MRII) and Meadow, Rosthern Rep III (MR III) was 261.3 mg and 229.3, respectively. The SD of the seed size means of MR II and MR III was 45.1 mg and 31.3 mg, respectively. The CV of MR II and MR III was 17.3 mg and 13.7 mg, respectively. The average protein contents of individual seeds of the two analyzed samples were 25.9% and 28.1%, respectively. The two largest seeds in one sample were similar in weight (293.4 mg and 303.8 mg) and had highest protein contents of all of the seeds analyzed. Seeds ranging in weight from 250.0 mg to 268.7 mg exhibited a wide range in protein content, from 21.8% to 27.2%.

The individual seed weights and protein content were affected by the type of seed and the growing environment with it being higher with some field pea cultivars.

Dietitians working in food product research and development should consider that all peas will not have the same protein content and that the size will depend on the cultivar.

No funding received