Chickpea is an important pulse crop with a wide range of potential nutritional benefits because of its chemical composition. The purpose of the current work was to provide the chemical composition of "kabuli"-type chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) developed in Argentina for nutritional purpose. Protein, oil and ash contents, fatty acid, tocopherol and mineral element compositions were studied. Among the studied genotypes, protein content ranged from 18.46 to 24.46 g/100g, oil content ranged from 5.68 to 9.01 g/100g and ash from 3.55 to 4.46 g/100g. Linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids were the most abundant fatty acids. The average oleic-to-linoleic ratio was 0.62 and average iodine value was 117.82. Tocopherols, well-established natural antioxidants, were found in chickpea seeds in relatively similar amounts across all genotypes. Mineral element analysis showed that chickpea was rich in macronutrients such as K, P, Mg and Ca. The nutritional composition of chickpea genotypes developed and grown in Argentina provides useful information for breeding programs, food marketing and consumers and establishes chickpea as component of a balanced human diet.

In order to introduce new chickpea germplasm in Argentina, two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations F6:7 of twenty lines, each one derived from crosses between kabuli and desi types, were evaluated for yield components in different sites and years. Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis was applied to study the performance of different genotypes in different environments. Genotype (G), environment (E) and GE interaction effects were highly significant in both populations for seeds/plant, yield/plant and seed size (100-seed weight). Large differences were observed between the two populations for seeds/plant and seed size. We recommend that some genotypes from these two populations with good performance in a range of environments could be used to introduce new germplasm to the Argentine chickpea breeding programme. The significant GE interactions seem to be related to differences between two geographical areas (Salta and Córdoba/San Luis), at different latitudes and altitudes. These results suggest that these regions should be considered as different macro-environments from the point of view of the chickpea breeding programme.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a valuable source of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols, dietary fibre, vitamins and complex carbohydrates, such as oligosaccharides with prebiotic activity. This study evaluates the use of by‐products derived from the classification of chickpea as functional ingredients in food production. The chemical content and thermal properties of by‐products (discard and split) were determined and compared to whole grains for export. Split grains had a higher protein content, lower water hydration capacity (WHC) and lower fibre. The content of oligosaccharides was lower in discard grains. For further studies, hummus was prepared with three samples, and texture and sensory analyses were performed. The results of texture and sensory analyses show no significant differences between discard and whole grains. Chemical contents of by‐products show advantages for the food industry. Discard grains can be used to prepare hummus with the same technology and sensory quality as whole grains.

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