Abstract
The underutilised grain legume bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) has the potential to contribute significantly to nutritional security. However, the lack of commercial cultivars has hindered its wider adoption and utilisation as a food source. The development of competitive cultivars is impeded by (1) lack of systematic data describing variation in nutritional composition within the gene pool, and (2) a poor understanding of how concentrations of different nutritional components interact. In this study, we analysed seed lipid and protein concentration and lipid composition within a collection of 100 lines representing the global gene pool. Seed protein and lipid varied over twofold with a normal distribution, but no significant statistical correlation was detected between the two components. Seed lipid concentration (4.2–8.8 g/100 g) is primarily determined by the proportion of oleic acid (r2 = 0.45). Yield and composition data for a subset of 40 lines were then used to test selection parameters for high yielding, high lipid breeding lines. From five selection indices tested using 15 scenarios, an index based on the seed number, seed weight, and oleic acid yielded a >50% expected increase in each of the mean values of seed number, pod dry weight, seed dry weight, and seed size, as well as an expected 7% increase in seed lipid concentration.
Highlights
Plant breeding programs aim to maximise the rate of increase in traits that are expected to have a genetic basis, where these traits can be inferred from data on the candidate lines under selection [1]
Compositional Analysis The distributions of concentration for seed macronutrients determined for the global diversity set of 100 bambara groundnut lines (Supplementary Table S1) indicated significant variation between lines (p < 0.01), with minor variation between technical triplicates, and a normal distribution of values across the gene pool
Based on our analysis and previous literature survey [35], we propose that increasing seed lipid concentration in bambara groundnut would be a viable strategy to enhance the value of this crop for human consumption
Summary
Plant breeding programs aim to maximise the rate of increase in traits that are expected to have a genetic basis, where these traits can be inferred from data on the candidate lines under selection [1]. Dietary nutritional traits of food crops have often had reduced priority compared with those affecting yield, appearance, and biotic resistance [6,7]. Underutilised crops face a set of interconnected challenges that hinder their wider utilisation as food sources. These challenges include poorly developed markets, neglect by research systems, together with fragmented and limited nutritional data [8]. Crop improvement that would expedite the transition from underutilised to increasing utility within food and farming systems is constrained by a lack of investment and coordinated research efforts [12,13,14]
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