Vol. 2, Issue 2, Part A (2020)

Lentils (Lens culinaris) is most nutritious annual cool season crop belongs to Fabaceae family commonly called Lentil also known by many common names viz., Masur (small seeded), (Kay, 1979). Lentil was one of the first domesticated grain legumes, originating from the Near East center of origin (Zohary, 1999). Lentil subsequently spread to central Asia and the Mediterranean Basin (Cubero, 1981; Lev-Yadun et al., 2000) among grain legumes, lentil seeds have highest protein content (22% to 34.6%) and considered as the third highest level of protein of any legume after soybeans and hemp, and major source of protein in vegetarian diet. Its lens-shaped seeds exist with a spectrum of colors including yellow, red, orange, green, brown or black depending on the cultivar, and subsequently the composition of the seed coats and cotyledons (Xu and Chang, 2010).