Genetic diversity of folate profiles in seeds of common bean, lentil, chickpea and pea

Folates are water-soluble B vitamins and act as cofactors in many metabolic functions in the human body. Pulses have traditionally been considered as a good dietary source of folates. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the concentration of folates in four cultivars each of common bean, lentil, chickpea and pea, and (2) to determine the effect of growing location on folate concentration. Six folate monoglutamates were quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Total folate concentration ranged from 351 to 589 μg/100 g in chickpea, 165 to 232 μg/100 g in common bean, 136 to 182 μg/100 g in lentil, and 23 to 30 μg/100 g in pea. The 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-FTHF) folates were most abundant in common bean, lentil and chickpea, whereas 5-MTHF and tetrahydrofolate (THF) were the predominant forms in pea. Significant differences were detected among cultivars for all folates across the pulses, except for 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate (5,10-MTHF) in lentil, 5-MTHF in chickpea, and 5,10-MTHF and folic acid (FA) in pea. Significant effects for location and cultivar by location were also observed for the majority of the folates.