The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Sciences Papers and Journal Articles School of Sciences 2011 Growth, yield and seed composition of native Australian legumes with potential as grain crops Lindsay W. Bell CSIRO, [email protected] Megan H. Ryan UWA Richard G. Bennett UWA Margaret T. Collins Centre for Legumes in Medeiterranean Agriculture Heather J. Clarke UWA and University of Notre Dame Australia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/sci__article Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons This article was originally published as: Bell, L. W., Ryan, M. H., Bennett, R. G., Collins, M. T., & Clarke, H. J. (2011). Growth, yield and seed composition of native Australian legumes with potential as grain crops. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 92 (7), 1354–1361. http://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.4706 This article is posted on ResearchOnline@ND at https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/sci__article/43. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Research Article Received: 17 May 2011 Revised: 21 July 2011 Accepted: 16 September 2011 Published online in Wiley Online Library: (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/jsfa.4706 Growth, yield and seed composition of native Australian legumes with potential as grain crops Lindsay W Bell,a∗ Megan H Ryan,b Richard G Bennett,b,c Margaret T Collinsd and Heather J Clarked† Abstract BACKGROUND: Many Australian native legumes grow in arid and nutrient-poor environments. Yet few Australian herbaceous legumes have been investigated for domestication potential. This study compared growth and reproductive traits, grain yield and seed composition of 17 native Australian legumes with three commercial grain legumes. RESULTS: Seed yields of seven native legumes were >40% of Cicer arietnum, with highest seed yields and harvest indices in Glycine sp. (14.4 g per plant, 0.54 g g−1)andLotus cruentus (10.2 g per plant, 0.65 g g−1). Five native species flowered earlier than field pea (Pisum sativa) (109 days), though many were slower to flower and set seed. Largest seeds were found in Glycine canescens (17 mg), with seed of other native species 14 times smaller than commercial cultivars. Seed composition of many native legumes was similar to commercial cultivars (200–330 g protein kg−1 dry weight (DW), 130–430 g dietary fibre kg−1 DW). Two Cullen species had high fat content (>110 g kg−1 DW) and Trigonella sauvissima had the highest crude protein content (370 g kg−1 DW). CONCLUSION: The seed composition and reproductive traits of some wild native Australian legumes suggest they could offer potential as grain crops for soils and environments where the current grain legumes are uneconomic. Further evaluation of genetic diversity, especially for seed size, overall productivity, and reproductive development is needed. c 2011 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: novel crops; phenology; perennial; Kennedia; Swainsona; Rhynchosia INTRODUCTION examining approaches to integrate perennial pastures and tree The performance of many exotic legumes used in Australian crops into agricultural systems to reduce dryland salinity. Perennial agriculture is constrained by variable climatic conditions and grain crops have been proposed as an alternative that brings infertile soils.1 Many indigenous Australian legumes may be many sustainability benefits to agriculture while maintaining grain more productive than exotic species when grown under low- production.11,12 Perennial grain crops may only require grain yields fertility or drought conditions.2–5 For example, under low soil P of 40–60% of current crops if they could grow in areas where concentrations the native legumes Kennedia prorepens F. Muell. current crops are less profitable or if they could provide additional 13 and Lotus australis Andrews produced 32 times and 11 times more grazing for livestock. Many of Australia’s native legumes have 6 biomass than lucerne (Medicago sativa), respectively.4 Despite potential as forage species and hence could be used for the dual theirinherentadaptationtochallengingenvironments,thediverse purposes of grain and grazing. legume flora of Australia has received limited assessment for agricultural potential, and focus to date has been on their potential 5–10 as pastures. Few studies investigate Australia’s legumes for ∗ Correspondence to: Lindsay W Bell, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, PO Box 102, their potential as alternative grain crops. Furthermore, Australia Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia. E-mail: [email protected] has native legumes closely related to globally important grain † legume crops such as Trigonella (fenugreek), Vigna (mungbean), University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA 6959, Australia. andGlycine,whichincludesthemostwidelygrownoilseedlegume: a CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia soybean (Glycinemax L.). As well as the potential to provide a wider varietyofadaptedlegumesformodernfarmingsystems,Australian b School of Plant Biology and Institute of Agriculture M081, University of Western legume germplasm in these genera could provide plant breeders Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia across the world with a valuable resource for increased adaptation c CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia to water-limited and infertile environments. Many Australian herbaceous legumes are also perennial and d CentreforLegumesinMediterraneanAgriculture(CLIMA),UniversityofWestern offer sustainability benefits for agriculture. Ongoing work is Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J Sci Food Agric (2011) www.soci.org c 2011 Society of Chemical Industry www.soci.org LW Bell et al. Table 1. The 17 native Australian herbaceous legumes and three commercial grain legumes grown in the study, the cultivar/accession used and a description of the growth habit and life cycle of each species Species Accession no./cultivar Growth habit Life cyclea Native legumes Cullen australasicum (Schltdl.) J. W. Grimes SA44380 Erect sub-shrub A Cullen cinereum (Lindl.) J. W. Grimes AusTrCF 320112 Erect sub-shrub P Cullen graveolens (Domin.) J. W. Grimes AusTrCF 320184 Erect A Cullen tenax (Lindl.) J. W. Grimes AusTrCF 320110 Prostrate to erect P Glycine canescens F. J. Herm NIND001 Perennial twinning P Glycine sp.b NIND004 Perennial twinning ? Glycyrrhiza acanthocarpa (Lindl.) J. M. Black C2N01GA Semi-prostrate to ascending P Kennedia coccinea Vent. NS-26828 Twining P Kennedia prorepens F. Muell. NS-30323 Prostrate to ascending P or A Lotus cruentus Court NF003 Prostrate to ascending P Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC NF013 Prostrate or twining P Swainsona canescens (Benth.) F. Muell. KIMS003 Prostrate or erect, spreading A Swainsona colutoides F. Muell. NIND006 Erect A or P Swainsona kingii F. Muell. NF002 Prostrate or ascending A or P Swainsona purpurea (A. T. Lee) Joy Thomps. KIMS004 Erect to spreading P Swainsona swainsonioides (Benth.) J. M. Black KIMS005 Spreading ascending A Trigonella sauvissima Lindl. Fortescue collection Erect to prostrate or ascending A Commercial grain legumes Cicer arietnum L. (chickpea) Rupali Spreading ascending A Pisum sativum L. (field pea) Kaspa Twining, ascending A Lupinus angustifolius L. (narrow-leaf lupin) Mandelup Erect A a A, annual; P, perennial. b Speciesisunknown. Although Australian legumes were consumed by Aboriginals, and Trigonella suavissima Lindl. One previous study found that there is no evidence of any kind of their domestication. The use Hardenbergia violacea (Schneev.) Stearn, Crotalaria cunninghamii, of seeds as a food source is mainly documented for several Acacia and Kennedia nigricans Lindl. were worthy of further investigation species,14,15 though there is evidence of Swainsona galegafolia as grain crops, as they possessed relatively large seeds (38 mg, (Andrews) R. Br. (smooth Darling pea) being eaten fresh and 38 mg, and 16 mg, respectively) and contained crude protein tasting similar to common garden pea.16 There are few published content of 210–280 g kg−1 fresh weight.19 However, there is records of the ethnobotany of many Australian native legumes; the little information on the grain or seed production potential ephemeral growth of many species or their rarity in the vegetation and seed composition of many native Australian legumes. may have rendered them an unreliable food source. Antinutritional Therefore, this investigation was conducted to compare the compounds or toxins (e.g. alkaloids, furanocoumarins, and growth characteristics, reproductive development, seed yield, and hydrogen cyanide), present in many Australian legumes, may also seed composition of selected species with those of commercially lower their palatability or edibility. ‘Dilly bags’ (leaching baskets) grown grain legume crops. We found that several native legumes were commonly used by Aborigines to remove toxins by soaking had similar reproductive development, reproductive allocation, certain seeds and legumes in running water for hours or days. and seed composition, but smaller seed size than commercial Despite known toxins in Australian legumes, many secondary grain legume cultivars. compounds in Australian plants have pharmaceutical uses, and within many genera and species there is significant variation in their presence and activity.17,18 A recent review of the potential of Australian native legumes METHODS systematically evaluated 14 genera for their adaptation to arid Experimental design and management and winter-dominant semi-arid climatic regions, as well as Seventeen native Australian