Effects of harvesting procedure,storage time and climatic conditions on cooking time of lentils (Lens culinaris Medikus)

In an experiment conducted over 2 years in Larissa, the effects on the cooking times of six lentil varieties of different harvest periods (early and late), seed storage for 1 year and climatic conditions prevailing during seed production were studied. Cooking time was estimated by measuring seed hardness using a penetrometer (PNR‐6). Late harvesting (when the plants were completely dry) increased cooking times by 6–16% in comparison with early harvesting (when the plants were partly green). This increase was less for the short‐cooking genotypes ‘Dimitra’, ‘Samos’ and ‘Thessalia’ than for the long‐cooking genotypes ‘Arachova’ and ‘Nikaia’. After 1 year of seed storage, cooking times increased on average by 6–9%. Seeds produced during a dry year (1995) required on average 38% less time to cook than seeds produced during a wet year (1996), irrespective of harvest period or duration of seed storage. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry