Variability, heritability and genetic association in vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.)

Abstract

Forty three vegetable amaranth (<em>Amaranthus tricolor</em> L.) genotypes selected from different eco-geographic regions of Bangladesh were evaluated during 3 years (2012-2014) for genetic variability, heritability and genetic association among mineral elements and quality and agronomic traits in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five replications. The analysis showed that vegetable amaranth is a rich source of K, Ca, Mg, proteins and dietary fibre with average values among the 43 genotypes (1.014%, 2.476%, 2.984, 1.258% and 7.81%, respectively). Six genotypes (VA13, VA14, VA16, VA18, VA26, VA27) showed a biological yield >2000 g/m<sup>2 </sup>and high mineral, protein and dietary fibre contents; eleven genotypes had high amount of minerals, protein and dietary fibre with above average biological yield; nine genotypes had below average biological yield but were rich in minerals, protein and dietary fibre. Biological yield exhibited a strong positive correlation with leaf area, shoot weight, shoot/root weight and stem base diameter. Insignificant genotypic correlation was observed among mineral, quality and agronomic traits, except K <em>vs.</em> Mg, protein <em>vs.</em> dietary fibre and stem base diameter <em>vs</em>. Ca. Some of these genotypes can be used for improvement of vegetable amaranth regarding mineral, protein and dietary fibre content without compromising yield loss.

Nutritional and antioxidant components and antioxidant capacity in green morph Amaranthus leafy vegetable

“…In this study, we found a remarkable vitamin C content (101.65 mg 100 g −1 FW) in the green morphs of amaranth, which was higher than our earlier results in red morphs of amaranth 6 . The TPC values (20.13 GAE μg g −1 FW) obtained in this study were higher than the results of Khanam et al 42 in green morphs of amaranth.…”

“…A few genera of Amaranthus are used as a traditional medicine for the remedy of viral, malarial, diabetic, bacterial, and helminthic diseases and as snake bite antidote 2-4 . Amaranth leaves and stems are good economic sources of carotenoids, proteins, including the essential amino acids methionine and lysine, dietary fiber and minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and manganese [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . Amaranth is also abundant in several pigments, such as carotenoids, chlorophylls, amaranthine, anthocyanins, betalains, betaxanthins, and betacyanins 17,18 and natural antioxidant phytochemicals, such as vitamin C, betacarotene, flavonoids, and phenolic acids 19,20 , that act as reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers in the human body 21,22 .…”

Antioxidant leaf pigments and variability in vegetable amaranth

“…It demands more genotypes enriched with leaf pigments. We found lots of variations in vegetable amaranth germplasm in respect to mineral, vitamins, leaf color, quality, and agronomic traits in our earlier studies (SARKER et al, 2014;SARKER et al 2015aSARKER et al , 2015bSARKER et al , 2016SARKER et al , 2017SARKER et al , 2018a. Therefore, to fill the lacuna, an investigation was carried out i) to estimate amount of antioxidant leaf pigments and foliage yield in 23 cultivated genotypes of vegetable amaranth, ii) to select appropriate high yielding genotypes containing high antioxidant leaf pigments and (iii) to find out possible ways for improving the antioxidant leaf pigments without compromising foliage yield.…”

Variability in mineral compositions, yield and yield contributing traits of stem amaranth (Amaranthus lividus)

“…Among them only 17 species produce edible leaves and 3 produce food grains (JANSEN, 2004). Amaranthus leaves and stems are rich sources of antioxidants, protein, carotenoids, vitamin C, dietary fiber, and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium (SARKER et al, 2014;2015a;2015b;2018a;2018b;2018c;SARKER and OBA, 2018d;2018e;2018f;2018g;2018h;SHUKLA et al, 2006b;OZSOY et al, 2009; ANITHA and PONBAVANI, 2013; LÓPEZ-MEJÍA et al, 2014). Member of these genera are widely used as traditional medicinal plant, especially as antiviral, antimalarial, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antihelminthic, snake antidote (KUSUMANINGTYAS et al, 2006;VARDHANA, 2011;KUMAR et al, 2010) and tolerant to drought and salinity OBA, 2018i, 2018j).…”

“…Although genetic variability and interrelationship studies among morpho-nutritional traits are available in other crops (SUKHCHAIN et al, 1997;LOPEZ et al, 1998;FINNE et al, 2000), such reports on vegetable amaranth are rare. The nutritional composition of A. tricolor has been previously studied (SARKER et al, 2014;2015a;2015b;2017a;2017b;2018a;2018b;SHUKLA et al, 2006a). To our knowledge, there is no information on mineral compositions in huge number of diversified A. lividus germplasms available in Bangladesh and elsewhere.…”