TITLE:
Evaluation of Total Seed Protein Content in Eleven Arkansas Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) Lines
AUTHORS:
Waltram Second Ravelombola, Ainong Shi, Yuejin Weng, Dennis Motes, Pengyin Chen, Vibha Srivastava, Clay Wingfield
KEYWORDS:
Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata, Seed Protein Content, Germplasm
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.7 No.15,
November
16,
2016
ABSTRACT: Cowpea is cultivated on more than 11 million hectares with a worldwide production
of 5.4 million tons of dried seeds. Cowpea is an affordable source of protein, which is
used as an alternative to soybean for people who are allergic to soybean protein. The
aim of this research was to assess the variability of the total seed protein content in
cowpea. Eleven Arkansas breeding lines were used in this study. Field experiment
design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 2 blocks, and conducted
in three different locations within Arkansas State (Fayetteville, Alma, and
Hope) in 2015. A standard chemical protocol was performed involving an analysis of
the total nitrogen by combustion using an Elementar Rapid N III instrument to estimate
the protein content. The average protein content was 25.4%, and ranged from
23.7% to 27.4% with a standard deviation of 1.9%. The significant effects of genotype,
environment (location), and genotype by environment were observed for the total
seed protein content in cowpea. The broad sense heritability (H2) for cowpea seed
protein was estimated to be 57.8% based on the eleven cowpea genotypes studied.
The cowpea lines, “Early Scarlet” and 09-204 had the highest seed protein content
with 27.4% and 26.9% dried seed weight, respectively. This study provides valuable
information on cowpea protein content for breeders to select and utilize those
breeding lines with high seed protein content to develop new high protein cowpea
cultivars.