Variability of the Main Economically Valuable Characteristics of Cyperus esculentus L. in Various Ecological and Geographical Conditions

Plants (Basel). 2024 Jan 20;13(2):308. doi: 10.3390/plants13020308.

Abstract

This study includes an assessment of the VIR (Center N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources) chufa collection, grown in various ecological and geographical conditions of the Russian Federation: "Yekaterininskaya experimental station VIR" in the Tambov region and "Kuban experimental station VIR" in the Krasnodar Region during the years 2020-2021. The main indicators of the economic value of chufa accessions were studied: yield structure and nutritional value (oil, protein, starch, and fatty acid profile). The accessions were grown in regions with different climatic conditions. As a result of the study, the variability of the biochemical and yield characteristics and the correlation between the studied indicators and the factor structure of its variability were established. Of the 20 accessions used in the study, the accessions with the highest protein, starch, oil and unsaturated fatty acid contents were selected, which are the most promising for their use as a raw material to expand the range of regional functional food products, as well as for future breeding efforts in the development of new, promising regional chufa varieties.

Keywords: Cyperus esculentus; fatty acid composition; oil content; protein; starch; yield.

Grants and funding

The study was carried out with the financial support of the project of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the creation and development of a world-class scientific center, “Agrotechnologies for the Future”, under agreement No. 075-15-2022-323, dated 21 April 2022.