Participatory selection of traditional leafy vegetables and variation in morphology and mineral content of colchicine-treated Corchorus olitorius plants in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Loading...
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
Traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs) are mostly wild-collected, nutrient-rich herbaceous plants whose leaves, shoot tips, flowers and fruits are consumed as vegetables. They are well-adapted to harsh environmental conditions and grow in soils with limited fertility. This study focused on TLVs that are utilized by a rural community of the KwaMbonambi area of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South-Africa.
A survey was conducted to identify the most preferred TLV’s in this study area and to determine factors affecting their consumption and cultivation. In a total of 19 recorded TLV species, Amaranthus hybridus, A. spinosus, A. thunbergii, Bidens biternata and Corchorus olitorius, were the most preferred in the area based primarily on their appealing taste. Most TLVs were collected from the wild mainly by females, during the rainy summer season, and were consumed only once a week depending on their availability. The cultivation of TLVs was very rare because poor seed quality restricted their cultivation.
Participatory variety selection was done with the KwaMbonambi community of the study to evaluate 15 Amaranthus genotypes. Amaranthus was selected because of its popularity as a TLV in the area. During the participatory variety selection, mild-tasting and high-yielding genotypes were the most preferred. Genotypes ACAT seed fair, Tanzania and AMES-22680 were the most preferred in terms of the above traits.
Induced mutation through colchicine has been successful in many crop species but least applied in traditional leafy vegetables. The effect of colchicine treatment on 15 morphological traits and 19 leaf minerals were therefore investigated in Corchorus olitorious. The evaluated colchicine treatments showed significant (P < 0.05) differences among them in both morphological and nutritional traits evaluated. Of all morphological traits measured, only the leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) of the 0.025 g l-1 colchicine treatment for two hours was significantly higher than the control. The trend for mineral nutrient content was similar with the highest values for most nutrients corresponding with 0.025 g l-1 of colchicine for two hours treatment.
Description
A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Agriculture in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, University of Zululand, 2020
Keywords
Traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs), morphology and mineral content, Corchorus olitorius plants