Abstract
Main ConclusionWinged bean is popularly known as“One Species Supermarket”for its nutrient-dense green pods, immature seeds, tubers, leaves, and mature seeds. This underutilised crop has potential beneficial traits related to its biological nitrogen-fixation to support low-input farming. Drawing from past knowledge, and based on current technologies, we propose a roadmap for research and development of winged bean for sustainable food systems.Reliance on a handful of “major” crops has led to decreased diversity in crop species, agricultural systems and human diets. To reverse this trend, we need to encourage the greater use of minor, “orphan”, underutilised species. These could contribute to an increase in crop diversity within agricultural systems, to improve human diets, and to support more sustainable and resilient food production systems. Among these underutilised species, winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) has long been proposed as a crop for expanded use particularly in the humid tropics. It is an herbaceous perennial legume of equatorial environments and has been identified as a rich source of protein, with most parts of the plant being edible when appropriately prepared. However, to date, limited progress in structured improvement programmes has restricted the expansion of winged bean beyond its traditional confines. In this paper, we discuss the reasons for this and recommend approaches for better use of its genetic resources and related Psophocarpus species in developing improved varieties. We review studies on the growth, phenology, nodulation and nitrogen-fixation activity, breeding programmes, and molecular analyses. We then discuss prospects for the crop based on the greater understanding that these studies have provided and considering modern plant-breeding technologies and approaches. We propose a more targeted and structured research approach to fulfil the potential of winged bean to contribute to food security.
Highlights
Despite the rich variety of crops once cultivated around the world, since the beginning of the twentieth century there has been a consistent decline in the number of species included1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)Planta (2019) 250:911–931 in our diets
The results showed that none of the four P. tetragonolobus accessions—originally from Nigeria, Liberia, and Malaysia—fell into any of the other three groups comprising of Psophocarpus genus members
Through the declaration of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, the United Nations has called for more efforts to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (UN 2015)
Summary
Despite the rich variety of crops once cultivated around the world, since the beginning of the twentieth century there has been a consistent decline in the number of species included1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)Planta (2019) 250:911–931 in our diets. The TPt8-ETH1 variant identified by Rüegg (Anonymous 1981) was the first to flower at the peak of the annual daylength and temperature cycle in the field experiment in Australia (Eagleton and Sandover 1984) (see Table 2) and produced its first mature seed pods 132 days after planting.
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