Quality of western Canadian lentils 2009

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7. Quality of western Canadian red lentils

Red lentils, including the varieties CDC Blaze, CDC Impact, CDC Impala, CDC Imperial, CDC Maxim, CDC Redberry, CDC Red Rider, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown and CDC Rouleau, had a mean protein content of 27.6% in 2009, which was similar to 2008 (27.9%). Red lentils in 2009 had higher starch content than in 2008 (45.0% and 44.1%, respectively). The mean 100-seed weight and mean water absorption for 2009 (3.2 g and 0.88 g H₂O/g seeds, respectively) was similar to that in 2008 (3.3 g and 0.88 g H₂O/g seeds, respectively).

Quality data for 2009 western Canadian red lentils^{1, 2}

Quality parameter	2009	2008
1 Red lentils (CDC Blaze, CDC impact, CDC Impala, CDC Imperial, CDC Maxim, CDC Redberry, CDC Red Rider, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown and CDC Rouleau).
2 Lentils, No. 1 Canada Red and Lentils, No. 2 Canada Red combined.
Protein, % dry basis
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	27.6	27.9
Standard deviation	1.1	1.0
Minimum	25.7	26.2
Maximum	29.6	29.5
Starch, % dry basis
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	45.0	44.1
Standard deviation	0.7	0.9
Minimum	43.1	41.5
Maximum	46.3	46.0
100-seed weight, g/100 seeds
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	3.2	3.3
Standard deviation	0.4	0.6
Minimum	2.4	2.5
Maximum	3.9	4.8
Water absorption, g H2O/g seeds
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	0.88	0.89
Standard deviation	0.08	0.06
Minimum	0.70	0.76
Maximum	0.99	1.02

In 2009, 72% of the red lentils fell within the 4.0-5.0 mm range, which was similar to the 71% of the red lentils in 2008. This indicates that the 2009 seeds have a similar diameter to the 2008 seeds.

Seed size distribution for 2009 western Canadian red lentils¹

Seed size distribution2	2009	2008
	Number of samples	Number of samples
	161	116
1 Red lentils (CDC Blaze, CDC impact, CDC Impala, CDC Imperial, CDC Maxim, CDC Redberry, CDC Red Rider, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown and CDC Rouleau).
2 Seed size including all grades determined by the image analysis technique.
< 3.5 mm, %	2.6	2.1
3.5-4.0 mm, %	14.3	13.2
4.0-4.5 mm, %	34.8	34.7
4.5-5.0 mm, %	37.1	36.4
5.0-5.5 mm, %	10.7	12.7
5.5-6.0 mm, %	0.4	0.8
6.0-6.5 mm, %	-	-
6.5-7.0 mm, %	-	-
> 7.0 mm, %	-	-

The mean dehulling efficiency for 2009 red lentils was 78.3%, as compared to 79.3% in 2008. The dehulling efficiency was slightly lower in 2009 than in 2008 because of higher undehulled whole seeds (8.5% and 6.8%, respectively), while the powder (2.2% and 2.4%, respectively) and broken seeds (0.8% and 1.3%, respectively) were similar. Colour of dehulled lentils was measured using a Hunterlab LabScan XE spectrocolorimeter with the CIE L*, a* and b* colour scale. Dehulled splits exhibited more brightness (L*), similar redness (a*) and more yellowness (b*) as compared to dehulled whole seeds. There were no differences in brightness (L*), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) values between the 2009 and 2008 respective fractions.

Dehulling quality data of western Canadian red lentils 2009¹

Quality parameter	2009	2008
1 Red lentils (CDC Blaze, CDC impact, CDC Impala, CDC Imperial, CDC Maxim, CDC Redberry, CDC Red Rider, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown and CDC Rouleau). Lentils, No. 1 Canada and Lentils, No. 2 Canada combined.
Dehulling efficiency, %
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	78.3	79.3
Standard deviation	7.4	7.6
Minimum	57.4	56.2
Maximum	85.9	88.4
Powder, %
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	2.2	2.4
Standard deviation	0.5	0.3
Minimum	1.6	1.9
Maximum	4.1	3.4
Broken seeds, %
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	0.8	1.3
Standard deviation	1.1	1.5
Minimum	0.1	0.3
Maximum	5.6	7.2
Undehulled whole seeds, %
Number of samples	26	21
Mean	8.5	6.8
Standard deviation	7.1	6.4
Minimum	1.4	0.5
Maximum	30.7	28.7

Quality data on dehulled western Canadian red lentils 2009¹

Quality parameter	2009		2008
Dehulled	Whole	Splits	Whole	Splits
1 Red lentils (CDC Blaze, CDC impact, CDC Impala, CDC Imperial, CDC Maxim, CDC Redberry, CDC Red Rider, CDC Robin, CDC Rosetown and CDC Rouleau). Lentils, No. 1 Canada and Lentils, No. 2 Canada combined.
2 L*=darkness (0) to brightness (+); a*=greenness (-) to redness (+); b*=blueness (-) to yellowness (+).
Colour2 - Brightness, L*
Number of samples	26	26	21	21
Mean	59.7	61.9	60.0	61.6
Standard deviation	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.9
Minimum	58.1	60.3	58.7	60.2
Maximum	61.0	63.1	61.4	63.1
Colour2 - Redness, a*
Number of samples	26	26	21	21
Mean	30.9	31.3	31.4	31.6
Standard deviation	1.2	1.5	1.0	1.4
Minimum	28.4	28.6	29.5	28.7
Maximum	32.9	34.2	32.8	33.6
Colour2 - Yellowness, b*
Number of samples	26	26	21	21
Mean	37.6	40.0	37.6	39.5
Standard deviation	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9
Minimum	35.8	38.5	36.2	38.4
Maximum	39.8	42.1	39.3	41.7

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