High-throughput phenotyping tool for protein biofortification in pulses

Protein malnutrition remains a substantial health problem globally. Pulse crops are staple plant-based proteins that provide significant dietary protein but are low in sulfur-containing amino acids (SAA) methionine and cysteine. The development of biofortified, high-protein, quality pulse cultivars has been hindered by a lack of low-cost, high-throughput techniques to screen early generations.

Recently, researchers reported in The Plant Phenome Journal that Fourier-transform mid-infrared spectroscopy is a high-throughput, cost-effective method to quantify nutritional traits, total protein, and SAA concentrations in plant matter. The team found the technique can accurately measure the lentil SAA (with the model’s accuracy of R² of 0.827) using one finely ground seed. The predicted validation data ranged from 0.207 to 0.326%, similar to results validated from high-performance liquid chromatography and literature values.

This research impacts global pulse breeding programs for biofortification. Researchers are now using this technology to develop high-protein, quality pulses at Clemson University’s organic dry pea and lentil breeding program; the USDA-ARS chickpea breeding program in Washington State; and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco.