Seed Mineral Composition of Diverse Peanut Germplasm1

Abstract

Abstract Quality of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seed is of major concern to the grower, processor, and consumer. Past investigations have mainly focused upon organic compounds, thus basic information pertaining to inorganic elements is relatively sparse. A chemical evaluation study was conducted over a three-year period to determine the concentration of elemental constituents among diverse germplasm and to examine the extent of correlation among element concentrations. Twenty-six distinct genotypes were analyzed for N, K, P, S, Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn, B, and Cu. Significant differences were found among the germplasm lines for each of the inorganic elements. In general, the means were within the ranges that have been previously reported. Both highly significant positive and negative relationships were observed for several elemental combinations. The largest correlation was negative between seed Ca and K concentrations. These data indicate that careful consideration should be given to the selection method used in a breeding program for improving the compositional balance of peanut seed.