Breeding biofortified cowpea lines for semi-arid tropical areas by combining higher seed protein and mineral levels

Abstract

ABSTRACT. One strategy to mitigate human malnutrition in semiarid areas is to increase the protein and mineral content of cowpea cultivars. Total seed protein, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, and sodium contents were quantified in elite cowpea lines, with the aim to develop cultivars that had improved levels of these nutrients. Eightyseven F 6 lines derived from 6 crosses were evaluated under rain-fed conditions in Petrolina, Brazil. Seed protein and mineral content were quantified by the micro-Kjeldhal method and in an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, respectively. Statistical analyses were estimated for all traits, including grain yield. Significant differences were observed for all characteristics. Seed protein content ranged from 22.5 to 34.1%, potassium levels ranged from 20,200 to 27,000 ppm, and calcium levels ranged from 410 to 6260 ppm. Iron content ranged from 36.5 to 137 ppm, while zinc content ranged from 36 to 58 ppm and sodium content ranged from 29.2 to 88 ppm. Simple correlation coefficient values indicated that selection for high protein and mineral content does not affect grain yield. These results demonstrate that it High protein and mineral cowpea lines is feasible to obtain new biofortified cowpea cultivars by combining higher levels of protein and essential minerals.

Research Article Genotypic gain with simultaneous selection of production, nutrition, and culinary traits in cowpea crosses and backcrosses using mixed models.

“…These results indicate that enhancement for these components may lead to decreases in protein concentration. These results corroborate with those obtained by Moura et al (2012), studying the same populations, but in the F 2 and F 3 generations, but disagree with the results obtained by Santos and Boiteux (2013), which found positive correlation between protein concentration and grain yield, evaluating 87 lines derived from six cowpea crosses.…”

“…These results were similar to those obtained by Ribeiro et al (2014), evaluating the selection for grain yield and iron concentration in common bean, but different from those obtained by Santos and Boiteux (2013), who found a positive correlation between grain yield and iron and zinc concentrations, evaluating 87 F 6 cowpea lines derived from six crosses.…”

“…Correlations between protein concentration and iron and zinc concentrations were positive and of medium magnitude (Table 3), indicating that simultaneous gains for these three traits can be obtained by selection. A similar sense of correlations was obtained by Santos and Boiteux (2013), evaluating 87 lines derived from six cowpea crosses.…”

Retention of proteins and minerals after cooking in cowpea genotypes1

“…The protein content increased with the increase of cooking time (Table 3). Santos & Boiteux (2013) reported correlations between grain yield and iron content, when evaluating protein and mineral contents in 87 cowpea genotypes, and did not observe a significant correlation between the protein content and the other variables.…”

“…Due to its high grain yield and higher nutrient content, if compared with crops traditionally grown by small farmers in the semi-arid regions, cowpea has been a good option for the diet of several populations. Some studies have proved that cowpea presents a significant variability of chemical composition in the grains, which allows the selection of genotypes with high nutritional contents (Santos & Boiteux 2013.…”