Unveiling Diversity for Quality Traits in the Indian Landraces of Horsegram [ Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.]

Manju Kumari; Siddhant Ranjan Padhi; Sushil Kumar Chourey; Vishal Kondal; Swapnil S Thakare; Ankita Negi; Veena Gupta; Mamta Arya; Jeshima Khan Yasin; Rakesh Singh; Chellapilla Bharadwaj; Atul Kumar; Kailash Chandra Bhatt; Rakesh Bhardwaj; Jai Chand Rana; Tanay Joshi; Amritbir Riar

doi:10.3390/plants12223803

Unveiling Diversity for Quality Traits in the Indian Landraces of Horsegram [ Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.]

Plants (Basel). 2023 Nov 8;12(22):3803. doi: 10.3390/plants12223803.

Authors

Manju Kumari^{1

2}, Siddhant Ranjan Padhi^{1

2}, Sushil Kumar Chourey², Vishal Kondal², Swapnil S Thakare³, Ankita Negi⁴, Veena Gupta², Mamta Arya², Jeshima Khan Yasin², Rakesh Singh², Chellapilla Bharadwaj³, Atul Kumar³, Kailash Chandra Bhatt², Rakesh Bhardwaj², Jai Chand Rana⁵, Tanay Joshi⁶, Amritbir Riar⁶

Affiliations

¹ The Graduate School, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, PUSA, New Delhi 110012, India.
² ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource, PUSA, New Delhi 110012, India.
³ ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India.
⁴ ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India.
⁵ The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT-India Office, New Delhi 110012, India.
⁶ Department of International Cooperation, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, 5070 Frick, Switzerland.

Abstract

Horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum [Lam.] Verdc.) is an underutilized pulse crop primarily cultivated in South Asian countries like India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It offers various nutraceutical properties and demonstrates remarkable resilience to both biotic and abiotic stresses. As a result, it has emerged as a promising crop for ensuring future food and nutritional security. The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional profile of 139 horsegram germplasm lines obtained from 16 Indian states that were conserved at the National Gene Bank of India. Standard analytical methods, including those provided by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), were used for this investigation. The study revealed substantial variability in essential nutrients, such as protein (ranging from 21.8 to 26.7 g/100 g), starch (ranging from 26.2 to 33.0 g/100 g), total soluble sugars (TSSs) (ranging from 0.86 to 12.1 g/100 g), phenolics (ranging from 3.38 to 11.3 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAEs)/g), and phytic acid content (ranging from 1.07 to 21.2 mg/g). Noteworthy correlations were observed, including a strong positive correlation between sugars and phenols (r = 0.70) and a moderate negative correlation between protein and starch (r = -0.61) among the studied germplasm lines. Principal component analysis (PCA) highlighted that the first three principal components contributed to 88.32% of the total variability, with TSSs, phytates, and phenols emerging as the most significant contributors. The cluster analysis grouped the accessions into five clusters, with cluster III containing the accessions with the most desirable traits. The differential distribution of the accessions from north India into clusters I and III suggested a potential geographical influence on the adaptation and selection of genes. This study identified a panel of promising accessions exhibiting multiple desirable traits. These specific accessions could significantly aid quality breeding programs or be directly released as cultivars if they perform well agronomically.

Keywords: HCA; PCA; multivariate analysis; nutritional profiling; underutilized legume; variability.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their acknowledgment to the ICAR Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India, for the funding provided to MK in the form of a research fellowship; the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, funded project on minor pulses (No. BT/Ag/Network/Pulse-I/2017-18, date:187 24 October 2018), and the international collaborative project on “Consumption of Resilient Orphan Crops and Products for Healthier Diets (CROPS4HD)” co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Global Programme Food Security (SDC GPFS) executed in India through FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture), Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, with ICAR-NBPGR as a lead partner (LOA No. L22DEL211 dated 1 October 2022).