Evaluation of improved pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) varieties for organoleptic dal quality in India

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajanL.) is an important pulse crop in the Indian diet and one of the most important sources of dietary protein for the population. Organoleptic qualities of pigeon pea dal were tested to draw conclusions on the preferred varieties. Organoleptic qualities such as taste, texture, aroma, tenderness, sweetness and overall acceptance were tested by a trained sensory panel. Available and commercially viable improved varieties were selected for the analysis. All samples were milled and cooked under the same conditions. Results indicated that PUSA ARHAR 16, one of the improved varieties, presents a good potential in terms of agronomic characteristics for farmers and is also well accepted by the sensory panel during the organoleptic evaluation. Generating sound scientific evidence on organoleptic characteristics of pigeon pea is important for the breeders, as they will evaluate which varieties have a commercial potential and are accepted by the consumers

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Not AvailableRice is a major staple food across the world in which wide variations in nutrient composition are reported. Rice improvement programs need germplasm accessions with extreme values for any nutritional trait. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) uses electromagnetic radiations in the NIR region to rapidly measure the biochemical composition of food and agricultural products. NIRS prediction models provide a rapid assessment tool but their applicability is limited by the sample diversity, used for developing them. NIRS spectral variability was used to select a diverse sample set of 180 accessions, and reference data were generated using association of analytical chemists and standard methods. Different spectral pre-processing (up to fourth-order derivatization), scatter corrections (SNV-DT, MSC), and regression methods (partial least square, modified partial least square, and principle component regression) were employed for each trait. Best-fit models for total protein, starch, amylose, dietary fiber, and oil content were selected based on high RSQ, RPD with low SEP(C) in external validation. All the prediction models had ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD) > 2 amongst which the best models were obtained for dietary fiber and protein with R2 = 0.945 and 0.917, SEP(C) = 0.069 and 0.329, and RPD = 3.62 and 3.46. A paired sample t-test at a 95% confidence interval was performed to ensure that the difference in predicted and laboratory values was non-significant.This work was funded by the support from two projects, namely, Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) funded project LoA No. L19INDIA173 Dated 01.06.2019 “Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization in the agricultural sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability” and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) No. BT/Ag/Network/Rice/2019-20 Dated: 05.03.2020 – Government of India funded project “Mainstreaming rice landraces diversity in varietal development through genome-wide association studies: A model for large-scale utilization of gene bank collections of rice”

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Not AvailableThe effect of vacuum packing and ambient storage conditions on the stability of the β-carotene in the transgenic Golden Rice® lines was studied. The β-carotene was quantified using RP-HPLC at bimonthly intervals for a period of six months. The β-carotene concentration in the genotypes analyzed ranged from 7.13 to 22.81 μg/g of endosperm. The transgene being the same in all the genotypes, variation in the β-carotene concentration reflects on the genetic background of the rice variety and the transgene position that governed the differential accumulation of β-carotene. It was observed that in the absence of light, oxidative degradation is higher followed by thermal degradation. Weibull model with higher R2 best explained the degradation kinetics of β-carotene in Golden Rice® lines across all the storage conditions. The knowledge generated through this study can be utilized in devising an effective delivery system for Golden Rice® to the consumer.Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under "Consortium Research Platform- Biofortification

Founder of the Rice Breeding Programme at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

M. S. Swaminathan began his scientific career in India at the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack in 1954, where he focused on transferring genes for fertilizer responsiveness between different varieties of rice. Later the same year, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi as an Assistant Cytogeneticist and began working on varietal improvement in wheat. He went on to become the Head of the Division of Botany, renamed the Division of Genetics during his tenure, and Director of IARI. During the IARI years, he played a pivotal role in research and policy interventions relating to rice cultivation

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Not AvailableStudies over the decades highlighted the role of lipids in modulating inherent glycaemic response of rice, still much needed to elucidate how the chain length and saturation of fatty acid (FA) influence this. Hence in this study, we investigated the in vitro glycaemic response, starch-lipid complexing ability and resistant starch (RS) formation in three rice types [white rice (WR), black rice (BR) and red rice (RR)] cooked with four fats [ghee, coconut oil (CO), virgin coconut oil (VCO) and rice bran oil (RBO)], with three cooking conditions (‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’). Inherent glycaemic responsewas found least in RR (81.9%) and among the fats used, RBO rich in long chain unsaturated FA (72.6%) further reduced the least glycaemic response with maximum complexing ability and enriched RS content. Cooking conditions also resulted significant variation in the parameters studied, the most significant effect with complexing ability (28.67%) and RS (2.26%) observed when RBO added ‘during’ with RR. FTIR fingerprint within 950 to 1200 cm−1 region validated the complex interactions of amylose among FA, alcohols and acids present in the RBO. This is the first report proposing a ‘lipid induced resistance towards glycaemic response’ model highlighting the importance of FA type towards modulating the molecular configuration, complexing ability and RS-V formation.Not Availabl

Founder of the Rice Breeding Programme at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

M. S. Swaminathan began his scientific career in India at the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack in 1954, where he focused on transferring genes for fertilizer responsiveness between different varieties of rice. Later the same year, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi as an Assistant Cytogeneticist and began working on varietal improvement in wheat. He went on to become the Head of the Division of Botany, renamed the Division of Genetics during his tenure, and Director of IARI. During the IARI years, he played a pivotal role in research and policy interventions relating to rice cultivation

Molecular profiling of BADH2 locus reveals distinct functional allelic polymorphism associated with fragrance variation in Indian aromatic rice germplasm

Allelic variability of the aroma gene, betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (BADH2) was studied in a random subset of indigenous aromatic rice germplasm along with a few exotic aromatic accessions. Use of functional markers of four badh2 alleles identified that the test panel possessed only two alleles, badh2-E7 and badh2-p-5′UTR. Two other alleles, badh2.2 and badh2-E4-5.2 were absent. Based on the alleles present, four functional polymorphisms (FP) were detected, namely FP1 to FP4. 188 genotypes possessed FP1 having both the badh2-p-5′UTR and badh2-E7 (71.8%) alleles. The badh2 allele with FP1 is named badh2-E7-p. 39 genotypes (14.9%) possessed only the badh2-p-5′UTR allele (FP3), while three genotypes were found to carry only the badh2-E7 allele (FP2). We also found that 32 genotypes (12.2%) did not have any of the target aroma alleles tested in this study (FP4). Interestingly, for badh2-p-5′UTR marker, the expected 198 bp amplicon for the non-aromatic allele could not be detected among any of the genotypes tested. Instead, an amplicon of 456 bp length appeared with 100% presence in the non-aromatic checks. Notwithstanding, the 456 bp allele also showed a 16% presence among the aromatic lines. This article forms the first report of this allele, named badh2-p1, among aromatic rice. Quantification of 2-Acetyl-1-Pyrroline (2AP) content and sensory evaluation among the test genotypes showed that those with FP1 are highly aromatic than the genotypes carrying other types of FPs. But, a few strongly aromatic lines showed lower 2AP content. The BADH2 characterization carried out in this study is suggestive of identifying the additional gene(s)/ allele(s) governing aroma among the Indian fragrant rice

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Not AvailableRice is sensitive to heat stress at gametogenesis and anthesis stages. For sustaining rice yields under the predicted threat of reproductive stage heat stress (RSHS), identification of tolerant donors as well as mapping of genes governing tolerance is crucial. Recently a NERICA (NEwRIce for AfriCA) rice genotype, NL44 has been reported tolerant to RSHS. The present study aims to survey a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population developed from the cross, Pusa Basmati 1 (PB1)/NL44 using markers linked to 54 RSHS quantitative trait loci (QTLs) through phenotypic and genotypic characterization. When exposed to RSHS, the susceptible parent PB1 and several RILs showed significant reduction for spikelet fertility and grain yield plant−1 relative to NL44. Both these traits and the estimated stress tolerance index (STI) showed a quantitative pattern of inheritance. Out of the 116 SSR markers surveyed, 31 markers were polymorphic between PB1 and NL44. No discernible associations could be found through a preliminary bulked segregant analysis with these markers. A subsequent single marker analysis revealed five minor QTLs, four for spikelet fertility under heat stress and two for STI-spikelet fertility, of which one QTL was mapped for both the traits. These QTLs, however, could explain a very low level of total phenotypic variation. Additionally, the cumulative additive effect of these QTLs could account only for a possible 30% of the contrast between PB1 and NL44. Thus, the study clearly establishes that NL44 has novel genomic regions for RSHS tolerance.Not Availabl

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