An Assessment of Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides and Sucrose Concentration in Genus Lens

To determine the natural variation for sucrose and raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) concentration in lentils (Lens culinaris Medik. ssp. culinaris), we analyzed a subset of 168 Lens germplasm lines from the ICARDA collection. Significant (P <= 0.05) variations were found for sucrose, total RFO concentrations, and composition of the three main RFO (specifically raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose). Sucrose concentration in domesticated genotypes ranged from 0.5 to 2.7 g 100 g(-1) flour dry matter (DM) and was higher overall than the concentrations observed in wild genotypes (0.1 to 1.7 g 100 g(-1) flour DM). Similarly, the RFO concentration in domesticated genotypes (4.0 to 6.1 mmoles 100 g(-1) flour DM) was generally higher than in wild lentil genotypes (1.7 to 5.2 mmoles 100 g(-1) flour DM). The verbascose, stachyose, and raffinose concentrations in domesticated genotypes ranged from 1.1 to 1.6 g, 1.5 to 3.5 g, and 1.5 to 3.0 g 100 g(-1) flour DM, respectively, and were similar to concentrations measured in wild genotypes. Lens ervoides genotypes tended to have higher verbascose and lower stachyose concentrations than other genotypes. High raffinose and low verbascose concentrations were observed in Lens nigricans genotypes. The diversity in RFO, raffinose, and verbascose concentrations was higher in wild genotypes than domesticated lentils. Utilization of this natural variation in RFO concentration in genus Lens provides opportunities for the improvement of lentil seed quality.