Evaluating nutritional content among Bambara groundnut lines

Abstract

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) has the potential to address food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. However, a lack of cultivars with improved nutritional quality hinders its potential. This study evaluated nutritional content in the grain of 19 Bambara groundnut lines. The nutritional content of the lines varied significantly (p < 0.05) with lines Mix, Tiganecuru, and Pong-Br-UNK exhibiting the highest means for starch protein and fat contents, respectively. The first principal component (PC) accounted for 21.9 % of the variation and was strongly correlated with K (which contributed 20.1 %), ash (19.5 %), NDF (16.4 %) and ADF (14.8 %). The second PC explained 16.1 % of the variation and was significantly correlated to magnesium (19.7 %), starch (17.3 %) and protein (10.7 %). This is essential to select superior lines for developing Bambara groundnut breeding populations for improving nutrition in SSA. The negative correlations between some of the nutrient such as NDF and ash, NDF and K, and Mg and Mn would be a challenge for simultaneous selection to breed nutritious Bambara groundnut lines. Further, analyses of anti-nutrient chemicals is recommended.