| Abstract: | Protein content in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) was determined by the following rapid procedures: (a) colorimetric estimation of ammonia with phenol-hypochlorite reagents using the Technicon auto-analyzer (TAA) method, (b) dye-binding capacity (DBC) method using acid orange-12 dye, and (c) modified biuret methods of Pinckney (B1) and Johnson and Craney (B2). Results obtained with the above procedures were compared statistically with the standard microKjeldahl (MKJ) procedure. Correlation of MKJ protein values with TAA, DBC, B1 and B2 methods were 0.99, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively. Standard errors of estimation obtained by methods B1 (0.99) and B2 (0.95) were high when compared to the TAA (0.55) and DBC (0.69) methods. Possible interference of seed-coat pigments, effect of flour particle size, and time of shaking on protein estimation by the DBC and B1 methods were also studied. Implications of these results are discussed with reference to adapting any of these rapid methods as a routine screening procedure for the estimation of protein in large numbers of chickpea samples in a breeding programme. |
