A Traditional Underutilized Crop of Turkey: Cowpea [Vigna Unguiculata (L.) Walp.] Landraces
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Many diverse cowpea [Vigna unguiculata(L.) Walp.] landraces are still maintained on-farm in Turkey. Two ofthe ssp. grown in Turkey:Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcourt and Vignaunguiculata subsp. unguiculata. Cowpea is a popular and importantleguminous crop especially in Aegean, Mediterrenean and South Marmara Regionswhich is known as “börülce” and has different local names like “acebek”,“loğlaz”, “lolaz”, “lübye”, “kocafasulye”, “karnıkara”, “sarı gelin” in Turkey.These landraces are maintained on-farm for various reasons, including betterquality than commercial varieties, better performance in terms of yieldorpersistence under harsh agro-environmental conditions, traditional uses such asparticular traits appreciated by the farm family. They are not necessarilymaintained under ‘traditional farming systems’, but are ‘maintained because oftradition’, especially related to food. It is already marketed as niche.However, most of them, especially garden and neglected crops, are highlythreatened because they are cultivated primarily by aging farmers. It is betteradapted to drought, high temperatures and biotic stresses than other legumespecies. Green pods, fresh seeds and dry grains are consumed as differentdishes and it plays an important role in the nutrition of the local people inTurkey.To assess the diversity of cowpea landraces in Turkey, cowpeapopulations were surveyed, collected, conserved ex-situ at the National SeedGene Bank of the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute and also evaluatedagro-morphologically. A total of 253 landrace accessions mainly from theAegean, Mediterranean, and South Marmara Regions of Turkey were used to evaluate 41qualitative and quantitative agro-morphological characteristics of the landracesamples. All landraces showed high variation of observed characters. Aspriority underutilized species of Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Projectof Turkeyvarious studies were conducted on cowpea landraces. During surveysethno-botanical information and traditional farming systems were recorded. Thesocio-economic studies were conducted for detail data with monography technic.The data recorded from face to face questioners with 23 producers/farmers and67 consumers. Surveys for the conclusion of process from harvest to consumptionwere conducted to generate the idea on marketing opportunity, to assist toobtain the information for the development of policy to upload the relevant informationabout the traditional knowledge. During surveys ethno-botanical information,the different type of dishes of fresh pods and cowpea dry grains andtraditional farming systems applied to cowpea production were recorded.Generally, the average age of responders is 53 and 76% have primary schooldegrees. The vast majority of consumers use the cowpeas 1-2 times a week intheir diet. Cowpea consumption per household is 21.9 kg. year-1andconsumption per capita is 6.3 kg. year-1. Consumption percentage hasfound as 76.1% and 61.7% of harvested amount are marketed. The food compositionof dry grain and fresh pods collected from Aegean Region was also determined toevaluate nutritional value of cowpea landraces. The proximate composition andmineral content of cowpea samples were analyzed using standard methods andreference materials. The study shows that dry grains contain a rich source ofprotein, dietary fiber, zinc, potassium and iron. Dry grains of cowpea can be agood solution to digestion problems by regulating intestinal function with highdietary fiber content. Fresh pods also have high dietary fiber, potassium andzinc content. Cowpea meals are good sources of nutrients and can be used asingredients in healthy diets.
Source: DergiPark (Istanbul University)
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2955533698