Flavonoid content was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and seed-coat colour was recorded from different legume seeds. Soybean seeds generally contained significantly higher amounts of daidzein (315 -354 mg/g), genistein (438 -458 mg/g), kaempferol (38 -68 mg/g) and total measured flavonoids (892 -917 mg/g), while cowpea and peanut seeds contained a significantly higher amount of quercetin (214 -280 mg/g and 133-289 mg/g, respectively) than the other legumes tested. Significant variation for flavonoid content existed among and within legume species. Daidzein was significantly correlated with genistein and kaempferol (r ¼ 0.92, P , 0.0001; r ¼ 0.68, P , 0.0001), respectively. Genistein was also significantly correlated with kaempferol (r ¼ 0.84, P , 0.0001). Due to differences in genetic background, no consistent relationship was observed between seedcoat colour and flavonoid content. Variation observed in flavonoid content and seed-coat colour would be useful for legume breeding programmes and consumer use.

Wild peanut species are useful genetic resources for improving the levels of disease/pest resistance and for enhancing the quality of seed composition by interspecific hybridization. The variation in oil content and fatty acid composition of wild peanut species in the United States Department of Agriculture germplasm collection is unknown. Seeds available from 39 wild species (plus a cultivated peanut) were requested from the U.S. peanut germplasm collection. Oil content was measured using nuclear magnetic resonance, fatty acid composition was analysed using gas chromatography, and the D150N functional mutation of theFAD2Agene was screened by real-time PCR. Significant variability in oil content (41.7–61.3%) was identified among the wild peanut species.Arachis magnacontained significantly more oil (61%) than cultivated peanut (56%). There was no functional mutation identified within theFAD2Agene target, and no wild species were identified with a high ratio of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The results from gas chromatography and real-time PCR analyses were consistent. However,Arachis sylvestriscontained a significantly higher amount (22%) of long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) than the cultivated peanut (4%). Thus,A.magnaandA. sylvestrismay be good breeding materials to use for increasing oil content or LCFA composition of cultivated peanuts in breeding programs.