Morphological, biochemical and molecular characterization of Amaranthus varieties in India

Amaranthus crop locally known as ‘Rajigara’, is very popular all over India, and considered as future gold. Seven selected cultivars were screened for morphological, biochemical and genetical variation in Junagadh Agricultural University, showed significant results. Shape of all selected varieties was lens shaped except Durga who bearded spherical shape. In biochemical analysis, total moisture content ranged from 3.6 to 5.2%, total ash content ranged from 1.5 to 3.5%, crude fibre per cent was from 8 to 10%. Protein, Carbohydrates and oil content varied with ranges of 10.6–13.2%, 63.6–72.3% and 4–8%, respectively. Energy value showed range of 346.8–385.7 kcal/mol which indicates that this is highly useful crop for food and fodder purpose. Genetic diversity through ISSR markers revealed total 313 scorable bands through 14 anchored markers. Among obtained 84 amplicons, 80 were polymorphic and rest 4 were monomorphic. Cluster analysis showed genetic similarity between selected seven varieties of Amaranthus. Current work can be of high use in selection of region specific genotypes and cultivars of Amaranthus in breeding programmes.