TECHNOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.) CULTIVARS GROWN UNDER NATURAL CONDITIONS

Technological characteristics (dry weight, dry volume, wet weight, wet volume, water absorption capacity, water absorption index, hydration coefficient, swelling capacity, swelling index, cooking time, number of destructed seeds after cooking) of 27 chickpea cultivars grown under natural conditions (without the use of chemical/organic fertilizers) were investigated in this study. Except for water absorption index and hydration coefficients, effects of cultivars on investigated characteristics were found to be significant. The wet weight, wet volume and water absorption capacity characteristics on PC1 explained 49.33% of total variation and swelling capacity, swelling index and unit weight characteristics on PC2 explained 25.79% of total variation (both explaining 75.12% of total variation). Dry weight had highly significant positive correlations with wet weight (r=0.9776), wet volume (r=0.9653) and water absorption capacity (r=0.9317). In terms of investigated characteristics, cultivars were clustered under three groups in scatter plot and dendrogram was composed of three sub-clusters under two main clusters.