Morphological Characterization and Selection of Spider Plant (&lt;em&gt;Cleome Gynandra&lt;/em&gt;) Accessions from Kenya and South Africa

D.A. Odeny,D.O. Wasonga,B.G. Crampton,G.N. Cheminingwa,J.L. Ambuko

doi:10.19026/ajas.7.2198

Abstract

Characterization of selected spider plant accessions from Kenya and South Africa was performed in order to individuate those with distinct morphological traits for future improvement programs. For this purpose, thirty two accessions of spider plant, 23 sourced from Kenyan genebank and nine sourced from South African genebank, were planted at the University of Nairobi’s Kabete field station, in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Eleven morphological traits based on modified FAO (1995) spider plant descriptors were used in characterization. Traits evaluated were growth habit, flower colour, stem colour, stem hairiness, petiole colour, petiole hairiness, leaf colour, leaf pubescence, leaf shape, leaf blade tip shape, and number of leaflets per leaf. The scored data were analyzed using DARwin software v6 and Genstat v14. Shannon diversity index (H’), multivariate methods of principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analyses of unweighted pair group method of arithmetic mean were assessed for all the traits. Estimates of Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H’) for the morphological traits were generally high (H’>0.500). The H' index indicated inter-country diversity to be greater than the intra-country diversity. Principal component analysis identified seven important morphological traits (stem colour, stem hairiness, petiole colour, petiole hairiness, leaf hairiness, leaf shape and number of leaflets per leaf) for characterizing spider plant accessions. The hierarchical cluster analysis revealed two major clusters (Cluster I and II) for the 32 accessions grown, with clustering of accessions occurring along regional basis. Cluster I consisted of South African accessions only while cluster II had mainly Kenyan accessions and two South African accessions. The relatively high levels of dissimilarity revealed in this study among the accessions for traits evaluated, especially accessions from the two different countries, indicates high prospects for genetic improvement of the crop through cross breeding by using materials from different geographical origins.

Highlights

Spider plant (Cleome gynandra L.) is among the most important African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) widely used in Africa (Schippers, 2000)
Jansen van Rensburg et al (2004) noted that indigenous leafy vegetables, which are rich in micronutrients and vitamins, could play an important role in alleviating hunger and malnutrition
Spider plant is a rich source of protein, and its leaves contain high levels of vitamins A and C, calcium, magnesium, iron, antioxidant enzymes and nonenzymatic antioxidants (DAFF, 2010), making it suitable for combating malnutrition and life style diseases especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO, 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Spider plant (Cleome gynandra L.) is among the most important African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) widely used in Africa (Schippers, 2000). Kenya and South Africa feature a range of agroecologies that represent most parts of the African continent (Nono-Womdim and Openam, 1997). In Southern Africa various ecotypes of spider plants spread from Limpopo region in South Africa to Namibia (DAFF, 2010) while in East Africa, the plants spread from the Coastal region to western regions of Kenya to Uganda (Chweya, 1997). This signifies high diversity in spider plant populations between Kenya and South Africa.

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Results