Variation of some seed mineral contents in open pollinated faba bean (Vicia faba L.) landraces from Turkey

The first step towards the biofortification of edible portions of crop species with improved nutritional value is to understand the genetic diversity available to breeders in germplasm collections. A faba bean germplasm (129 landraces and 4 cultivars) from diverse geographic regions of Turkey was assessed for micro- and macro element contents of seeds. The results showed high diversity in open-pollinated faba bean germplasm for contents of N (27.5-93.3 g kg(-1)), P (1.24-4.89 g kg(-1)), K (4.5-19.3 g kg(-1)), Fe (29.7-96.3 mg kg(-1)), Mn (15.5-29.2 mg kg(-1)), Cu (10.3-33.0 mg kg(-1)), and Zn (10.4-49.3 mg kg(-1)). Meanwhile, the ranges of mineral elements in the landraces were significantly higher than those in the commercial cultivars. Concentrations of these mineral elements were significantly and positively correlated with each other. Principal component analysis clearly split the faba bean landraces into 2 groups and the first 2 principal components accounted around 70.91% of the total variations. These findings indicate a wide range of variations for the investigated minerals in the Turkish gene pool that can provide a good source of diversity to use in faba bean biofortification for increased levels of available mineral elements and better yield.