Pearl millet populations characterized by Fusarium prevalence, morphological traits, phenolic content, and antioxidant potential

Abstract

Background: Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) has become increasingly attractive due to its health benefits. It is grown as food for human consumption and fodder for livestock in Africa and Asia. This study focused on five pearl millet populations from different agro-ecological zones from Tunisia, and on characterization by morphological traits, total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, and occurrence of Fusarium.Results: Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences between populations for the quantitative traits. The highest grain weights occurred in the pearl millet cultivated in Zaafrana and Gergis of Tunisia. Early flowering and early maturing populations cultivated in the center (Zaafrana, Rejiche) and south (Gergis) of Tunisia tended to have a higher grain yield. The Zaafrana population showed the highest value of green fodder potentiel (number and weight of leaves/cultivar and the weight of tillers and total plant/cultivar) followed by Gergis and Rejiche. The Kelibia population showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content. Rejiche exhibited the greatest antioxidant activity. Trans-cinnamic, protocatechuic, and hydroxybenzoic acids were the major phenolic compounds in all the extracts. Three Fusarium species were identified in Tunisian pearl millet populations based on morphologic and molecular characterization. Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum occurred most frequently. The average incidence of the three Fusarium species was relatively low (<5%) in all populations. The lowest infection rate (0.1%) was recorded in the samples from Zaafrana.Conclusion: Chemometric analysis confirmed the usefulness of the above traits for discrimination of pearl millet populations, where a considerable variation according to geographical origin and bioclimatic conditions was observed.

Post-Harvest Fungi Associated with Cowpea (&lt;i&gt;Vigna unguiculata&lt;/i&gt; L. Walp.) Seeds Produced in Burkina Faso

“…Shahnaz [28] obtained 3.5% infection rate of F. oxysporium on cowpea samples grown in Pakistan. In addition, Fusarium species have been found on seeds of other crops such as Bambara groundnut and rice in Burkina Faso [29] [30], and millet in Tunisia [31]. Fusarium species are cosmopolitan.…”

A review: Hydrothermal processing of millets and effect on techno‐functional and nutritional properties

“…However, the distribution of phenols in millet grain tissues may vary amongst varieties. Pearl millet grains from five different populations showed total phenols ranging from 72.08 to 136.25 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per gram (Bouajila et al, 2020). Similarly, 45 different samples of finger millet had phenolic concentration range of 148.55–589.12 mg Ferulic acid equivalent (FAE) per 100 g (Xiang et al, 2019).…”

Millets as potential nutri‐cereals: a review of nutrient composition, phytochemical profile and techno‐functionality

“…Chandrasekara & Shahidi (2011b) reported total phenolic content of millets ranging between 146 and 1157 μmol ferulic acid equivalents (FAE) per g phenolic extract; highest was observed for kodo millet. Variation in the phenolic content has also been reported within varieties of particular millet grain; for instance, five different populations of pearl millet exhibited total phenols ranging from 72.08 to 136.25 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per g (Bouajila et al, 2020). Ofosu et al .…”

“…The antioxidant power of millets has been evaluated in terms of metal chelation, reducing power, singlet oxygen radical quenchers and free radical scavenging (Chandrasekara & Shahidi, 2010; Chandrasekara et al, 2012; Ofosu et al, 2020). Five different populations of pearl millet exhibited free radical inhibition activity ranging between 66.9% and 84.7% (Bouajila et al, 2020). Foxtail millet prolamin peptides (Pro‐Phe‐Leu‐Phe and Ile‐Ala‐Leu‐Leu‐Ile‐Pro‐Phe) were found to reduce the production of malondialdehyde and other reactive oxygen species along with an increase in the glutathione level, thereby exerting antioxidant effect (Ji et al, 2020).…”