Dr. Nirmali Gogoi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Science, Tezpur University, Assam. She is a recipient of the Raman Fellowship for Post-Doctoral Research at Oklahoma State University, USA. Her research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in agro- and forest ecosystems, proposing mitigation strategies through conservation agriculture and novel soil amendments. She has authored over 77 research articles, 9 review papers, 1 edited book, and 17 book chapters. Dr. Gogoi has supervised nine(09) Ph.D students and successfully secured external grants for various research projects.
The study was conducted to assess the grain quality of Lathyrus sativus under drought stress. The experiment was set up in a greenhouse with 1m2 blocks together arranged in a randomized block design. Water withdrawal was done for 15 days in either the vegetative or reproductive stage of the crop to simulate drought conditions. Plant physiological parameters were recorded, and biochemical estimation of plant samples was done on the harvested grains. The results showed a decline in grain crude and true protein content of Lathyrus sativus by 13% and 10% due to drought at vegetative and reproductive stages, respectively. In-vitro grain protein digestibility decreased up to 46% due to drought. However, it was observed that drought could significantly reduce (22%) the anti-nutritional factor, i.e., phytic acid content in Lathyrus sativus. The study revealed that to counter the anti-nutritional factor in the grains of Lathyrus sativus and to optimize the benefits for the consumer, the imposition of terminal drought at the vegetative stage of the crop is advantageous. However, further study is required on protein profiling.