THE PROTEIN CONTENT OF VINING PEAS DURING THE MATURATION

The maturation of peas has quantitative and qualitative aspects. The yield of vining peas increases during the maturation, which is of interest especially for the pea price to the grower. The quality is changing, which has been much studied in relation to flavour, texture and chemical content of sugar and starch. The protein content has not been so much investigated. In this study the protein content of vining peas during the maturation is reported for two years. The peas are harvested from different nodes and the maturation is studied by harvesting every second day. Results show that calculated on dry matter the protein content is relatively stable around 22–28 % protein of the dry matter, but a very early stage of the maturation the content is higher. Calculated on fresh weight the protein content is increasing with increasing content of dry matter. At a very early stage there is an especially high content of protein.