Thesis (M. Sc. (Agronomy)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is an important annual leguminous crop grown in
arid and semi-arid areas in Sub Saharan Africa. Most of the cowpea production in South
Africa is mainly used for domestic consumption and, as seed for planting and little gets to
be used in food processing, thus, there is a need to expand the utilization of cowpea
through food processing. This study aimed to evaluate cowpea genotypes for phenotypic
and canning quality traits. Field experiments were conducted at two locations in Limpopo
Province, namely Syferkuil Agricultural Experimental Farm and Ga-Molepo village during
the 2017/2018 growing season. The field experiment was comprised of 100 cowpea
genotypes laid out in an Alpha Lattice Design replicated twice. Cowpea canning analysis
was done using tomato puree following ARC-GC in-house method at the Agricultural
Research Council-Grain Crops in Potchefstroom, North West Province of South Africa.
Collected data on yield was analysed using Genstat 18th edition and XLSTAT
2021.1.1.1081 software for canning quality data. The results revealed significant
differences among the cowpea genotypes based on the number of seeds per pod and
100 seed weight for Syferkuil. Significant differences were also observed among the
studied genotypes for 100 seed weight at Ga-Molepo.
The highest yield recorded across locations was for genotypes RV 555 (875.4 kg/ha), RV
207 (756,3 kg/ha), RV 439 (694.6 kg/ha) and RV 554 (682.3 kg/ha) respectively. The
number of pods per plant recorded a high positive association with pod number per plant
and number of seeds per pod. Grain yield of RV 558, RV 556, RV 207, RV 439 and RV
553 was high at Syferkuil and at Ga-Molepo RV 353, RV 194, IT99K-494-6, RV 341 and
RV 202 recorded the highest yield. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed
the three most important PCs contributing to a total variation of 76.71%. PC1, PC2, and
PC3 contributed 51.01, 13.97 and 11.73%, respectively. For canning ability, out of 79
cowpea canned genotypes, only 11 genotypes were spoiled and had a bad odour. About
68 genotypes were suitable for canning including genotypes that had an excellent
appearance without cracks or loose skins and even colour. Furthermore, there was vast
variability among the genotypes based on yield and yield components as well as canning
quality traits. Genotypes with high grain yield and had canning ability are recommended
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for canning. Data produced from this study will add useful information to the database of
the characteristics of these cowpea genotypes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/3749 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Mohlala, Magdeline Pakeng |
| Contributors | Molatudi, R. L., Mofokeng, M. A. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xi, 68 leaves |
| Relation |
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