Chemical Composition of Pea Seeds as Related to Seed Yield under Arid and Semiarid Mediterranean Environments

Little has been published on the chemical composition of pea ( Pisum sativum L.) seeds and its relationship to seed yield. This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between seed protein, lipid, starch and sugars content of pea with seed yield under arid and semiarid Mediterranean environments. Twenty pea genotypes were grown at an arid (JUST) and semiarid (Maru) locations in northern Jordan. With the exception of glucose and fructose, the variation in protein, lipid, sucrose and starch was caused by environmental conditions. Pea grown at the semiarid location exhibited higher yield and the lower protein, glucose, fructose and sucrose contents than those grown at the arid location. Except for lipid and starch, high seed yields of genotypes were associated with low contents of protein and sugars, indicating that one-sided selection for high seed yield tends to reduce the nutritional quality of pea seed.