The World Vegetable Center Amaranthus germplasm collection: Core collection development and evaluation of agronomic and nutritional traits

Abstract

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is an underutilized crop increasing in popularity as a grain and as a leafy vegetable. It is rich in protein, minerals, and vitamins, and adapts well to a range of production systems. Currently, the lack of improved cultivars limits the use of the crop. Breeding‐improved cultivars requires access to large collections of amaranth biodiversity stored in genebanks. The task of searching such vast collections for traits of interest can be eased by generating core collections, which display the diversity of large collections in a much smaller germplasm set. The World Vegetable Center amaranth collection contains around 1,000 accessions of 13 species; among them, there are 281 accessions of four species important for use as vegetable amaranth in Africa (A. cruentus, A. hypochondriacus, A. caudatus, and A. dubius). Based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker genotype diversity, a core collection (CC) of 76 accessions, cultivars, and selections was assembled. To a large extent, it represents the diversity of the whole collection. The CC was evaluated for yield and nutritional parameters during the cool and warm seasons in Tanzania and Taiwan and a pretest for variation of drought tolerance in the CC has been performed. Cultivar Madiira 2, an improved cultivar developed for vegetable production in Africa, outperformed all other tested cultivars in terms of yield stability, but several CC accessions had higher yield, lower wilting score, and higher nutrient content than Madiira 2. This indicates the core collection can be used for further improvement of amaranth cultivars.

Colorant Pigments, Nutrients, Bioactive Components, and Antiradical Potential of Danta Leaves (Amaranthus lividus)

“…Amaranth is a low-priced vegetable. Its stems and leaves are edible and have copious ascorbic acid; protein, with lysine and methionine amino acids essential for human nutrition [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]; carotenoids; digestible fiber; and minerals, including calcium, copper, magnesium, zinc, potassium, iron, and manganese [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Amaranthus has been used as folk medicine, particularly in anthelminthic [ 46 , 47 , 48 ], antimicrobial [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ,…”

A Review of Amaranth Crop as a Potential Solution to Ethiopia’s Nutritional Crisis

“…53 The soil should be thoroughly prepared, free of clods and crusts, and should be spaced 25 to 30 cm apart within rows and 50 cm apart between rows because amaranth seeds are so tiny. 54 Researchers have identified three different planting methods for amaranth, including direct seeding from the ground, shallow row planting, and tray planting. 55 Amaranth is reported to take between 30 and 55 days after seeding to be ready for harvest due to the nature of the crop.…”

Citizen science informs demand-driven breeding of opportunity crops

“…Several gene banks at national and international levels, including those hosted by WorldVeg, hold substantial collections of NUS genetic materials. One challenge has been leveraging these resources productively in support of breeding (Schafleitner et al, 2022;van Etten et al, 2023).…”

“…In this context, expanded participatory breeding research is critical to ensure that promising accessions selected from gene banks hosting NUS, and any improved varieties developed through them, respond to the real-world needs, constraints, and priorities of farmers and consumers (Schafleitner et al, 2022;van Etten et al, 2023;Van Zonneveld et al, 2023).…”