Lens culinaris, Lens esculenta

Lentil, split pea, red dahl

Erect annual bushy herb about 50 cm high, native to Asia. Widely cultivated in temperate and subtropical climates and in the tropics at high altitudes. An extremely important grain legume in the Near East and India. The seeds used mostly for human consumption, and the harvested vines for cattle feed.

As % of dry matter

DM

CP

CF

Ash

EE

NFE

Ca

P

Ref

Seeds with hulls,

Uganda

90.5

26.5

2.9

3.0

1.0

66.6

70

Seeds without

hulls, Uganda

89.6

26.7

0.5

12.0

1.2

59.6

"

Bran, Chile

87.6

26.4

8.4

2.8

1.1

61.3

315

Pod husks

88.0

12.6

29.0

3.5

0.8

54.1

512

Digestibility (%)

Animal

CP

CF

EE

NFE

ME

Ref

Seeds with hulls

Sheep

85.9

52.9

63.2

92.9

3.33

512

Pod husks

Sheep

11.8

67.2

99.9

70.3

2.21

"

Nylon bag degradability

a

b

c

12hr

48hr

Ref

(%)

(%)

(/hour)

(%)

(%)

Lens esculenta, straw,

Portugal

DM

13.0

42.5

0.0447

49.3

627

[P (rumen degradability at time t) = a+b*(1-exp(-c*t))]

Amino acid composition as % of crude protein

Seed

Ref

259

Arg

Cys

Gly

Hys

Ils

Leu

Lys

Met

Phe

Thr

Try

Tyr

Val

8.5

-

3.9

3.8

6.3

10.9

8.0

0.7

6.3

4.5

1.2

2.5

5.4