Genotype evaluation of cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata) using 1H qNMR combined with exploratory tools and solid-state NMR

•Genotypic variation of cowpea seeds was investigated by 1H qNMR and chemometrics.•Oligosaccharides, niacin, citric and lactic acids ranged according to phenotype.•13C CP and SPE/MAS ssNMR were applied to study mobile components in the cotyledons.•Composition ranged between rigid (starch) to soft portion (fatty acids, protein).•1H T1ρ data suggests the presence of lipid-amylose complexes.

The ultimate aim of this study was to apply a non-targeted chemometric analysis (principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis using the heat map approach) of NMR data to investigate the variability of organic compounds in nine genotype cowpea seeds, without any complex pre-treatment. In general, both exploratory tools show that Tvu 233, CE-584, and Setentão genotypes presented higher amount mainly of raffinose and Tvu 382 presented the highest content of choline and least content of raffinose. The evaluation of the aromatic region showed the Setentão genotype with highest content of niacin/vitamin B3 whereas Tvu 382 with lowest amount. To investigate rigid and mobile components in the seeds cotyledon, 13C CP and SP/MAS solid-state NMR experiments were performed. The cotyledon of the cowpea comprised a rigid part consisting of starch as well as a soft portion made of starch, fatty acids, and protein. The variable contact time experiment suggests the presence of lipid-amylose complexes.

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