Prediction of the Neuro-Toxin Beta-N-Oxalyl-Amino-L-Alanine in Lathyrus Species, Using near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Abstract

Grasspea or chickling vetch ( Lathyrus spp.) is a common food legume, widely grown and eaten in northern India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. It contains the neurotoxin beta-N-oxalyl-amino-L-alanine (BOAA), which can cause the disease known as “neuro-lathyrism”, an irreversible paralysis of the lower limbs, if BOAA-rich seeds form a large proportion of the diet. Lathyrus is a drought-tolerant crop, and ICARDA seeks to breed high-yielding lines that are low in BOAA. Conventional methods for determination of BOAA are time-consuming, expensive, and not practicable for screening large numbers of genotypes. Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy offers a rapid, inexpensive method of analysis. Application of NIR reflectance spectroscopy to the prediction of BOAA in Lathyrus has been achieved by developing NIR reflectance spectroscopy equations involving 88 samples, which represented three species: L. sativus, L. cicera and L. ochrus. Both intact and ground seeds were studied. Content of BOAA ranged from 0.09 to 0.83%. Seeds of L. cicera were significantly lower than those of the other two species. The best results were obtained from whole seeds, using multiple linear regression. The standard error of prediction of 0.05% and coefficient of determination ( r2) of 0.94 are considered quite adequate for use in the Lathyrus breeding programme.