Sowing date and seeding rate affect bioactive compound contents of chickpea grains

Chickpea grains may represent an alternative to soybean meals and energetic concentrates
in animal feeding, as their nutritional value can help to increase the sustainability of livestock systems.
Unfortunately, the presence of bioactive compounds with anti-nutritional e ects can prevent its direct
use, especially in mono-gastrics. It is known that the synthesis of these compounds depends on
genetic expression, which is also influenced by growth conditions. The objective of this two-year
study was to assess the e ect of sowing date (winter versus spring) and seeding rate (70 versus
110 seeds m􀀀2) on the accumulation of soluble carbohydrates, -galactosides, trypsin inhibitors,
and inositol phosphates in the grains of two Kabuli cultivars, in the Mediterranean climate. The
results showed that seeds collected from winter sowing contained more trypsin inhibitors than those
seeded in spring (+4%, on average), reaching values between 16.1 and 18.6 TIU mg protein􀀀1. The
seeding rate a ects only the -galactosides content, which increases (+9%) at lower densities (70 seeds
m􀀀2). These findings suggest that agronomic management can be used to modulate the content of
some anti-nutritional factors in the seeds, even though the genetic characteristics and phenotypic
expression, in relation to the climatic conditions, seem to deeply a ect the content of all the bioactive
compounds investigated.