Evaluation of Agronomic Characteristics, Disease Incidence, Yield Performance, and Aflatoxin Accumulation among Six Peanut Varieties (Arachis hypogea L.) Grown in Kenya

Abstract

Diseases contribute to attainment of less than 50% of the local groundnut potential yield in Kenya. This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic characteristics (flowering and germination), disease incidence, yield performance (biomass, harvest index, 100-pod, 100-seed, and total pod weight), and aflatoxin accumulation in six peanut varieties. A field experiment was conducted using four newly improved peanut varieties: CG9, CG7, CG12, and ICGV-SM 90704 (Nsinjiro), and two locally used varieties: Homabay local (control) and 12991, and in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The disease identification followed the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) rating scale and further isolation of fungal contaminants was conducted by a direct plating technique using potato dextrose agar. The aflatoxin levels in the peanuts were determined after harvesting using the ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection (UHPLC-FLD) technique. ICGV-SM 90704 showed the least average disease incidence of 1.31 ± 1.75%, (P < 0.05); the lowest total aflatoxin levels (1.82 ± 1.41 μg kg−1) with a range 0.00–0.85 μg kg−1 for total aflatoxins and a range 0.00–1.24 μg kg−1 for Aflatoxin B1. The locally used varieties (12991 and the control) revealed the highest disease incidence (5.41 ± 8.31% and 7.41 ± 1.88%), respectively. ICGV-SM 90704 was the best performing among all the six varieties with an average total pod weight (9.22 ± 1.19 kg), 100-pod weight (262.93 ± 10.8 g), and biomass of (27.21 ± 5.05 kg) per row. The 12991 variety and the control showed the least total pod weight (1.60 ± 0.28 and 1.50 ± 1.11 kg, respectively) (P = 0.0001). The newly improved varieties showed lower disease rates, low levels of aflatoxins, and higher yields than the locally used varieties.

Impact of green antioxidants on decreasing the aflatoxins percentage in peanut oil seed (Arachis hypogaeaL.) during storage

“…Among these, fungal infections are the primary cause of output losses, as reported in the literature. 14 The susceptibility of peanuts to Aspergillus spp. is attributed to the presence of peanut pods in the soil, especially during pre- and post-harvest periods.…”

Evaluation of the Agronomic Performances of a Promising Peanut Variety from the Research Environment (Flower 11) and a Local Variety (Sudanese) under the Agro-Ecological Conditions of the Bagarine Community Learning Center

“…Among the most cultivated plants in Central Africa, grain legumes are frequently consumed for their richness in protein and for their adaptation to difficult agro-ecological conditions. Peanut, Arachis hypogaea L., is an annual legume native to Latin America and cultivated throughout the intertropical zone; especially in arid and semi-arid regions (Kouadio, 2007;Prasad et al, 2010;Oteng et al, 2017;Parwada et al, 2020;Njoki et al, 2023). The multiplicity of its uses makes peanuts a very popular oilseed and protein crop.…”