Genetic Diversity for Zinc, Calcium and Iron Content of Selected Little Millet Genotypes

Abstract

Little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth. ex. Roem. and Schultz.) is an important indigenous small millets crop. The nutritional quality of little millet grain is superior to major cereals. The present experiment was carried out to identify the sources of zinc, iron and calcium rich genotypes. within this objectives 30 selected high yielding genotypes comprising of 26 germplasm accessions and four check varieties viz., CO 2 , CO 3 , CO (Samai) 4 and OLM 203 were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications during summer, 2013 (Jan-May) at Millets Breeding Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. All the 30 genotypes were subjected for grain nutrient analysis (zinc, iron and calcium) using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Nutrient analysis results revealed that zinc, iron and calcium contents in dehusked grains of little millet genotypes differed significantly among the genotypes. The zinc content was varied from 2.04 to 8.00 mg/g with a mean of 5.23 mg/g. Wide variation in iron content was observed and it ranged from 1.49 to 23.38 mg/g with a mean of 4.95 mg/g. The grain calcium content ranged from 1.14 to 13.15 mg/g with a mean of 3.90 mg/g. The genotypes TNPsu 25 (8.00 mg/g), TNPsu 23 (7.42 mg/g), TNPsu 21(6.95 mg/g) and TNPsu 9 (6.85 mg/g) had higher zinc content. Similarly the accessions TNPsu 23 (23.38 mg/g) and TNPsu 22 (19.22 mg/g) were superior in grain iron content. The CO 3 (13.15 mg/g), CO 2 (8.45 mg/g), TNPsu 141 (8.23 mg/g) and CO (Samai) 4 (6.52 mg/g) were some of the accessions which had significantly higher calcium content when compared to standard check varieties. A few of the genotypes like TNPsu 25, TNPsu 23 and TNPsu 22 were rich in zinc and iron contents and TNPsu 141 was rich in zinc and calcium contents.

Variability and trait‐specific accessions for grain yield and nutritional traits in germplasm of little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth. Ex. Roem. & Schult.)

“…Millets, including pearl millet ( Pennisetum glaucum ) and small millets, are reported to have considerably high grain nutrients compared to major cereals (Saleh et al., 2013). In little millet, there are only a few studies on grain nutrient traits estimation, using a few landraces or limited to a particular locality (Chandel et al., 2014; Selvi, Nirmalakumari, & Senthil, 2015). (Chandel et al., 2014) reported Fe (32.20–35.1 mg kg −1 ), Zn (30.30–33.00 mg kg −1 ) and protein (7.96–10.66%) content in four genotypes of little millet.…”

“…Extensive evaluation of the conserved germplasm for grain yield and other important traits can potentially contribute to little millet improvement. However, there are only a few studies that have investigated Crop Science variability in the germplasm of little millet for morphoagronomic (Arunachalam et al, 2005;Nirmalakumari et al, 2010;Selvi, Nimalakumari, & Subramanian, 2015) and grain nutrient traits (Chandel et al, 2014;Selvi, Nirmalakumari, & Senthil, 2015), and using a few landraces or limited to a particular locality. In this study, 200 little millet landraces were evaluated to assess variability for agronomic and grain nutritional traits and to identify promising accessions for direct release as a cultivar or use in crop improvement programs to develop high-yielding and nutritionally dense cultivars.…”

Study of Genetic Divergence in Barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link) Germplasm

“…Little millet is rich in vitamin B, minerals like potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc and magnesium. Therefore it can address nutritional sensitive agriculture, which aims at nutritional enhancement to combat the present scenario of micronutrient malnutrition (Arunachalam et al, 2005;Kundgol et al, 2014;Selvi et al, 2015). In fact the stover of barnyard millet is one of the best in terms of nutritional quality among all the existing stovers.…”

Nutritional Significance and Antioxidant-Mediated Antiaging Effects of Finger Millet: Molecular Insights and Prospects

“…Most millets possess colored coats and some possess colored endosperm. Carotene constitutes the major coloring pigment and hence several millet varieties are known Kumar et al (2018), Selvi et al (2015), Shankaramurthy and Somannavar (2019), and Renganathan et al (2020).…”