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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Griffin, Georgia » Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #386978
Research Project: Conservation, Characterization, Evaluation, and Distribution of Grain, Oilseed, Vegetable, Subtropical and Tropical Legume, and Warm Season Grass Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit

Title: Multivariate analysis of butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) genotypes with potentially healthy nutraceuticals and uses

Author
item Morris, John - Brad

Submitted to: Journal of Dietary Supplements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/4/2022
Publication Date: 1/7/2022
Citation: Morris, J.B. 2022. Multivariate analysis of butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) genotypes with potentially healthy nutraceuticals and uses. Journal of Dietary Supplement. https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2021.2022821.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2021.2022821

Interpretive Summary: Butterly pea plants contain important and potential health chemicals. This research shows the variation for seed and flower colors with a discussion about potential health effects for the chemicals from butterfly pea. This report will benefit people by providing useful variation and health information about several butterfly pea plants.

Technical Abstract: Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) is a legume used as tea, forage, ornamental, salad, and medicinal plant. The flowers range from white to dark purple with little known about the variation for seed and flower color in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit (PGRCU) germplasm collection. Therefore, 26 butterfly pea accessions were analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA) and average linkage cluster analysis (ALCA). These butterfly pea genotypes ranged from 56 to 99% for viabilities, 2.57 to 5.88 g for 100 seed weight, 34.07 to 226.26 g for total seed weight, and 1,326 to 3,874 for total seed numbers. PCA accounted for 40,57, 70, 79, and 86% of the variation using PC’s 1-5, respectively. PC1 was most correlated with 100 and total seed weight, while PC 2 correlated with blue, white, and purple flowers. PC 3 correlated mostly with germination, purple flowers, and total seed weight. PC’s 4 and 5 primarily correlated with blue and purple flowers, respectively. Several significant correlations were also observed. ALCA grouped the 26 butterfly pea genotypes into four distinct seed number producing clusters. Clusters 1 to 4 represent the lowest to highest seed numbers produced by the butterfly pea genotypes. Several potential health benefits from butterfly pea flowers, leaves, seeds, and roots for human use were identified from the literature.