Morphological characterization and genotypic identity of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpaHochst ex. A. Rich. Harms) germplasm from diverse ecological zones

Abstract

African yam bean (AYB) is an affordable protein source capable of diversifying the food base in sub-Saharan Africa. However, research efforts made towards the crop's improvement and in expanding production are limited. This study characterized 169 AYB accessions at Jimma, Ethiopia, using 31 phenotypic characters. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant (P < 0.01) differences for days to 50% flowering, days to first flowering, leaf area, number of seeds per pod, pod length, seed thickness, total seed weight, petiole length and significant (P < 0.05) difference for terminal leaf length. Accession TSs62B produced the highest number of seeds per pod (17.65) and recorded the highest 100 seed weight (25.30 g), while 3A was the earliest to flower at an average of 84.50 d. Principal component analysis (PCA) of qualitative traits attributed 77.6% of observed variations to the first five principal components, of which the first two PC axes accounted for 53.6% of total variations. Cluster analysis and PCA biplot distinctly grouped the accessions into two major groups, cluster I had the highest number of accessions (108). The analytical approaches used confirmed considerable diversity across the germplasm with a distance matrix ranging from 0.37 to 0.85. The extent of diversity reflected in the current study provides breeders the baseline information to design breeding strategies, which might help identify materials for release as variety or parental lines for hybridization programmes.

Evaluation of 93 Accessions of African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) Grown in Ethiopia for Physical, Nutritional, Antinutritional, and Cooking Properties

“…e 93 accessions were morphologically characterized [36]. e physical properties of the accessions used in the present study are shown in Supplementary Table 1.…”

A Review on the Cooking Attributes of African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)

“…Nevertheless, the food potential of the crop remains widely untapped, which can be attributed to several constraints such as long cooking hours of up to 24 hours [41][42][43][44], a long-maturity cycle of 9-10 months [16,17,45], and the abundance of anti-nutrition factors [35,[46][47][48][49]. However, the genetic variability reported in the crop [9,[50][51][52][53] provides a foundation for breeders to develop improved cultivars. In particular, the availability of AYB cultivars with reduced cooking time could boost the cultivation and consumption of the crop.…”

“…Table 1 presents the physical properties reported in AYB seeds. AYB seeds are, dicot in nature and they can measure up to 10 mm in length and 7 mm in width and thickness [9,[50][51][52][53]56]. The seeds of AYB differ in texture across germplasm; they could be rough, wrinkled, or smooth.…”

Legume seed system performance in sub-Saharan Africa: barriers, opportunities, and scaling options. A review

“…The nitrogen-fixing ability of legumes holds a significant value for smallholder farms in SSA, characterized by nutrient-deficient and degraded soils (Kamanga et al 2014 ; Kimutai et al 2023 ; Ndlovu et al 2022 ), especially considering the limited use of inorganic fertilizers due to their high prices. In addition to their agroecological benefits, legumes are an important nutrient-dense food staple item and are considered beneficial for both human health and the health of the planet (Aiking 2011 ; Foyer et al 2016 ; Kumar and Pandey 2020 ; Shitta et al 2021 ; Stagnari et al 2017 ). Legumes are high in protein, important minerals (P, Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Se), vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, choline, E, and folate), and fiber contents (Ojiewo et al 2015 ; Snapp et al 2019 ).…”