The seeds of chickpea provide an exceptional source of dietary proteins and is one of the important legumes in both developed and developing countries over the world. The available germplasm of cultivated chickpea is deficient in desired biochemical signatures. To identify new sources of variations for breeding, reduced subsets of germplasm such as mini-core collection can be explored as an effective resource. In the present investigation, mini-core collections consisting of 215 accessions of chickpea were extensively evaluated for tapping biochemical diversity. Analysis included ten biochemical parameters comprising total protein, total free amino acids, phytic acid, tannin, total phenolics, total flavonoids, lectin, DPPH radical scavenging activity, in vitro digestibility of protein and starch. The spectrum of diversity was documented for total protein (4.60-33.90%), total free amino acids (0.092-9.33 mg/g), phytic acid (0.009-4.06 mg/g), tannin (0.232-189.63 mg/g), total phenolics (0.15-0.81 mg/g), total flavonoids (0.04-1.57 mg/g), lectin (0.07-330.32 HU/mg), DPPH radical scavenging activity (26.74-49.11%), in vitro protein digestibility (59.45-76.22%) and in vitro starch digestibility (45.63-298.39 mg of maltose/g). The principal component analysis revealed association of chickpea higher protein content to the lower level of total phenolics and flavonoid contents. The dendrogram obtained by unweighted pair group method using arithmetic average cluster analysis grouped the chickpea accessions into two major clusters. This is the first comprehensive report on biochemical diversity analysed in the mini-core chickpea accessions. The ultimate purpose of conducting such studies was to deliver information on nutritional characteristics for effective breeding programmes. Depending on the objectives of the breeding aforesaid accessions could be employed as a parent.
Keywords: Chickpea; DPPH; Genetic diversity; In vitro protein digestibility; Lectin; Mini-core collection.