The Adhesiveness of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) Seeds Is Conditioned by Their Shape

The seeds of some chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) accessions are prone to sticking in twos or threes in a pod in the course of their maturation. Such seeds are usually easy to detach although their coats often become damaged due to forcible separation. Sticking is observed both in fields and glasshouses, with frequency potentially increasing in dry hot climates. Our morphometric survey of non-desi seeds (kabuli and intermediate types) suggests that it is seed shape, rather than size or color, that determines seed adhesiveness, with rounder seeds being the most prone to sticking. A similar phenomenon is known in pea (Pisum sativum L.) where it is conditioned by a single rare mutation affecting seed coat features. Unlike pea, numerous chickpea lines and cultivars of different origin have intrinsic susceptibility to seed adhesion, although to a variable extent depending on environment and seed shape, so this feature is multifactorial rather than solely genetic in C. arietinum. Although stuck seeds are mostly detached during mechanical harvesting, the accompanying seed coat lesions may be potentially undesired for seed storage and germination characteristics.