Abstract
Underutilised species such as bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) have the potential to contribute significantly to meeting food and nutritional needs worldwide. We evaluated phenotypic traits in twelve bambara groundnut genotypes from East, West and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia and two F2 bi-parental segregating populations derived from IITA-686 ×Tiga Nicuru and S19-3 ×DodR to determine phenotypic trait variation and their potential contribution to the development of improved crop varieties. All phenotypic traits in twelve genotypes were significantly influenced (p < 0.01) by genotypes. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PC1 accounted for 97.33% variation and was associated with four genotypes collected from East and Southern Africa. PC2 accounted for 2.48% of the variation and was associated with five genotypes collected from East, West and Southern Africa. Transgressive segregation for a number of traits was observed in the two F2 bi-parental populations, as some individual lines in the segregating populations showed trait values greater or less than their parents. The variability between twelve genotypes and the two F2 bi-parental segregating populations and the negative relationship between plant architectural traits and yield related traits provide resources for development of structured populations and breeding lines for bambara groundnut breeding programme.
Highlights
Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is an underutilised legume crop, mainly grown by subsistence farmers in Africa [1,2,3,4]
Tiga Nicuru showed the earliest days to flowering the shortest plant height, petiole length and internode length while IITA-686 showed fewer number of leaves per plant but high harvest index
Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a total of 99.81% of the variation across the twelve genotypes based on days to flowering, number of leaves per plant, petiole length, internode length, petiole internode ratio, plant height, 100-seed weight, harvest index and shelling percentage, and the distribution was suggested to be related to geographic origins (Figure 1)
Summary
Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is an underutilised legume crop, mainly grown by subsistence farmers in Africa [1,2,3,4]. Underutilised crops are still grown in their centres of origin or centres of diversity and are adapted to local conditions and marginal environments, while playing a significant role in food security, nutrition, income generation and cultural functions for people who grow them [2,5,6,7,8,9]. The bambara groundnut plant life cycle is genotype dependent, ranging from 90 to 150 days and requiring 30 to 40 days to form pods after fertilisation, and generally reaches maturity most quickly under a photoperiod of 12 h [16,17]. The seed contains approximately 24% protein, 64% carbohydrates (53% starch, 10% dietary fibre), and 6% total fat, providing nutrition and a balanced diet for humans [20,21,22]
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