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Main conclusion The variability in nutrient content and morphology in Gynandropsis gynandra is associated with the geographic origin of the accessions and provides a basis for breeding for higher levels of vitamin C, carotenoids or tocopherols in higher-yielding cultivars. We examined the variation in carotenoids, tocopherols and ascorbic acid as well as morphological traits in a worldwide germplasm of 76 accessions of the orphan leafy vegetable Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae) using greenhouse experiments and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The levels of carotenoids and tocopherols accumulating in the leaves varied significantly across accessions and were linked with the geographical origin and morphological variation. The main carotenoids included lutein, β-carotene, α-carotene and violaxanthin. A twofold to threefold variation was observed for these compounds. The main tocopherols detected were α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol with a 20-fold variation. A ninefold variation in vitamin C concentration and independent of geographical origin was observed. Overall, the accessions were grouped into three clusters based on variation in nutrient content and morphology. West African accessions were short plants with small leaves and with high tocopherol contents and relatively low carotenoid contents, Asian accessions were short plants with broad leaves and with relatively low carotenoid and high tocopherol contents, while East-Southern African plants were tall with high contents of both carotenoids and chlorophylls and low tocopherol contents. Carotenoids were positively correlated with plant height as well as foliar and floral traits but negatively correlated with tocopherols. The absence of a significant correlation between vitamin C and other traits indicated that breeding for high carotenoids or tocopherols content may be coupled with improved leaf yield and vitamin C content. Our study provides baseline information on the natural variation available for traits of interest for breeding for enhanced crop yield and nutrient content in Gynandropsis gynandra.

Morphological characterization of a small common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) collection under different environments AbstractThere is a long tradition in the cultivation of pulses in the Balkans and the Iberic Peninsula, mainly used for human consumption. Among the major food legumes common bean is the most important. A large range of landraces are still grown that have adaptation to local climatic conditions and resistance or tolerance to diseases and pests allow high yield stability under a low input farming. The main purpose of this work was to analyze the morphological variability of 15 Portuguese and 15 Bulgarian landraces in different environmental conditions (in Bulgaria and Portugal) in order to generate information that can help identifying the most suitable resources with good adaptability to different environments. The landraces were evaluated for 16 morphological characters. A considerable morphological variation was found among genotypes. The majority of landraces had white seeds colour but some had also cream, purple and white with red colours around the hillum. The predominant seed shape was long but three accessions have round shape. The geographical site of the trials (Elvas, Portugal or Sadovo, Bulgaria) determined the cluster pattern of the majority of accessions. In Portugal, the plants required more days to reach the flowering and maturity phases and had higher biological yield. In both environments, the components that mainly determined yield were the number of pods and the number of seeds per plant. The highest value for these traits were found in one Portuguese accession (№ PH2) and one Bulgarian accession (№ 99E0128), in both experimental conditions. Keywords: common bean, landraces, morphological characterization РезюмеТрадиционни за Балканския полуостроов са бобовите храни, като фасулът заема достойно място между тях. На много места в България все още се поддържат местните форми фасул, които са добре адаптирани към

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Jute mallow is a traditional leaf vegetable that is an important part of daily diet for the majority of people in rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Here we employed quantitative and qualitative phenotypic traits to assess the morphological diversity of 90 accessions using univariate and multivariate analyses. Field experiments were conducted for two seasons to identify accessions suitable for leaf yield. The accessions were significantly variable in all traits. Highest variability among accessions was found in harvest index, biomass yield, and weight of 1000 seeds. The traits that significantly correlated with biomass yield include plant height ( = 0.448), petiole length ( = 0.237), primary branches ( = 0.319), and number of leaves per plant ( = 0.333). Principal component analysis showed that the first five PCs with eigenvalues ≥1 explained 72.9% of the total variability in the accessions. Pods per plant, primary branches, secondary branches, and number of leaves per plant accounted for highest variability in PC1. Cluster analysis grouped the accessions into five major clusters mainly based on their origin. Thus, the collection displayed high variation in morphological traits, particularly those related to leaf yield. These accessions are therefore useful in breeding for the improvement of the crop and germplasm management.