Expression of nutritional traits in vegetable cowpea grown under various South African agro-ecological conditions

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorGerrano, Abe Shegro
dc.contributor.authorMbuma, Ntombokulunga W.
dc.contributor.authorMumm, Rita H.
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-22T09:53:25Z
dc.date.available2022-08-22T09:53:25Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractCowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.), a traditional legume food crop indigenous to Africa, has potential as both a vegetable and grain crop in contributing to dietary diversity to support health and address malnutrition, especially for those relying heavily on wheat, maize, and rice. The expression of nutritional traits (protein content and concentrations of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and manganese (Mn)) in cowpea leaves was evaluated over diverse agro-ecologies of South Africa and typical agronomic practices of smallholder farmers. The genotypes evaluated displayed genetic variation for all four traits. The mean values of Fe, Zn, Mn and protein content varied from 33.11 to 69.03 mg.100.g−1; 4.00 to 4.70 mg.100.g−1; and 14.40 to 19.63 mg.100.g−1 and 27.98 to 31.98%, respectively. The correlation analysis revealed significant degree of positive association between protein and Zn (r = 0.20), while negative associations were observed between Mn and protein (−0.46) and between Mn and Fe (r = −0.27). Furthermore, the expression of these important nutrient traits was influenced by the climatic conditions represented by six environments (location by year combinations) as is typical of ‘quality’ traits. Additionally, genotype-by-environment interaction effects were detected, suggesting that local soil properties and soil health may play a role in nutritional content in plants, perhaps particularly for legume crops that rely on symbiotic relationships with soil bacterial populations to fix nitrogen, which is crucial to protein formation. Further studies are needed to understand how to coordinate and align agronomic and soil management practices in vegetable cowpea production, especially those workable for the smallholder farmer, to realize the full genetic potential and nutritional value of improved vegetable cowpea varieties.en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.3390/plants11111422
dc.identifier.citationGerrano, A.S., Mbuma, N.W., & Mumm, R.H. (2022). Expression of nutritional traits in vegetable cowpea grown under various South African agro-ecological conditions. Plants, 11, 1422. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11111422en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2223-7747
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11660/11846
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherMDPIen_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthor(s)en_ZA
dc.rights.licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectCowpea leavesen_ZA
dc.subjectVegetable cowpeaen_ZA
dc.subjectGenotype by environment interactionen_ZA
dc.subjectGxEen_ZA
dc.subjectMineralsen_ZA
dc.subjectProtein contenten_ZA
dc.subjectNutritionen_ZA
dc.subjectGenetic improvementen_ZA
dc.titleExpression of nutritional traits in vegetable cowpea grown under various South African agro-ecological conditionsen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Gerrano_Expression_2022.pdf
Size:
277.67 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.76 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Research Articles (Plant Sciences)