Commodity · Pulse commodity
Lentils
Also known as: Masur, Lens seed, Red lentils, Green lentils
Lentils are the flat, lens-shaped dry seed of Lens culinaris, traded by cotyledon colour and seed size. Whether a lot is sold whole with its coat on or dehulled and split into a fast-cooking product is the decision that defines the market it enters.
Lentils are traded as a pulse whose commercial identity rests on two independent attributes: the colour of the cotyledons inside the seed and the size of the seed itself. A lentil with red cotyledons under a brown coat looks brown on the outside — and the moment the coat comes off, it is a red lentil. The commodity’s naming follows what the buyer will see, which is not always what the seller is looking at.
This makes processing form central rather than incidental. Whole lentils retain their coat and their shape and hold up in dishes where they must stay intact. Dehulled and split lentils cook fast and break down, and that behaviour is the point — it is what soups, dals, and purées require. The same field can supply either market, but the lot has to be directed, and the processing is what creates the article.
Colour, size, and what the buyer sees
Cotyledon colour is the primary division. Red lentils dominate the dehulled and split trade; green and yellow types serve the whole-lentil markets, and the large green types are a distinct premium article valued for holding shape. Within each colour, size is specified — large green, small green, and the various red calibres — and it drives both price and cooking behaviour.
Whole, football, and split
Three forms reach buyers, and they are distinct commodities in practice. Whole lentils keep the coat. Dehulled whole lentils — known in parts of the trade as footballs — have the coat removed while the two cotyledons remain joined. Split lentils have been separated into individual cotyledons and cook fastest of all.
Milling outturn governs the economics: what a processor cares about is how much of the intake emerges as whole splits rather than as chips, broken fragments, and powder. Outturn depends on seed condition, uniformity, and moisture at milling, so a lot’s value to a miller is not readable from its appearance as delivered.
AgricultureID does not currently publish split lentil or lentil flour entries; these pathways are real and are described here rather than linked.
Quality and defects
Lots are described by size, colour, and uniformity, and by moisture, splits and chipped seed, and foreign material. Because the lentil is thin and flat, it chips at the edges under handling stress in a way rounder pulses do not, and chipped seed is a graded defect. Weathering in the field stains coats and downgrades whole-lentil lots, though it matters less to a lot heading for dehulling — another instance where the destination determines whether a characteristic is a defect at all.
Insect damage, and bruchids in particular, is a rejection issue in export trade rather than a discount, and phytosanitary requirements differ by destination market.
Storage and handling
Lentils are handled gently: their flat shape makes them prone to chipping and splitting when dropped or conveyed hard, and every chip is a graded defect or a lost split. Over-dry seed is brittle and breaks; moist seed moulds and invites insects. Storage is kept cool, dry, and monitored, with insect protection, and hermetic systems are used where bruchid pressure warrants.
Relationships
Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.
Harvested from
Stored using
Scope & limitations
Geographic scope: Global. Size conventions, grade standards, phytosanitary rules, and classification codes are jurisdiction-specific and versioned.
- This is a reference description of the traded pulse, not a grading determination, contract specification, or customs classification.
- No size, moisture, milling-outturn, or defect-tolerance figures are given here — standards and contracts set them.
- Class and calibre names differ between producing and consuming markets; the same lot may be described differently in each.
- Regions are indicative groupings rather than ranked producers, and colour-class geography is not distinguished.
Sources
This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.
- [1]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Cited for: Lentils as a traded pulse and their processing forms
- Type:
- Intergovernmental organization
- Jurisdiction:
- Global
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [2]FAOSTAT — FAO statistical database (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Cited for: Commodity item classification and coverage
- Type:
- Intergovernmental organization
- Jurisdiction:
- Global
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [3]USDA — U.S. Department of Agriculture (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Cited for: Lentil grading attributes and market class context
- Type:
- Government agency
- Jurisdiction:
- United States
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [4]ICAR — national agricultural research system of India (opens in a new tab)High
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Cited for: Lentil dehulling, splitting, and milling context
- Type:
- Research institute
- Jurisdiction:
- India
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12