In this study the yield,protein per hectar and a number of quality characters of different cowpea cultivars were investigated The relationships between yield and protein,protein and quality characters, and among the quality characters were determined. The differences between the cultivars for yield,yield per hectar,cooking time, uniformity,odor and palatability were statistically significant. The differences in other studied characters were not significant. The correlation coefficients of protein with odor and of cooking uniformity with taste were statistically significant. Results also indicated that about 77% of the variabilities in palatability of cowpeas were attributed to odor,cooking uniformity and taste. The contributions of the above three quality characters to palatability of cowpea were 13,56, and 30%, respectively. Two cultivars,62-069—00070 from India and 62-110—00234 from Nigeria which were of relatively higher yields produced the highest levels of protein per hectar.The two cultivars also ranked second in their palatability and required a relatively short time to cook.
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