Correlation of genetic variation among wild Trigonella foenum-graecum L. accessions with their antioxidant potential status.

In this study, we analyzed the correlation between genetic variation based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), acid phosphatase, and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase isozymes, and amino acid composition with the antioxidant potential status of 7 wild Trigonella foenum-graecum L. accessions collected from diverse ecogeographical regions. RAPD revealed that 90 DNA products had highly polymorphism value (94.12%) based on band numbers, with sizes ranging from 50-2100 base pairs, and band intensity. Of 49 DNA polymorphic bands, 31 unique and 3 monomorphic bands were scored. Acid phosphatase and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase showed total polymorphism values of 90.00 and 93.75%, respectively, based on zymogram number, relative front (Rf), and optical intensity. Because isozymes are composed of amino acids, they were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography, which revealed the presences of 16 amino acids of variable content ranging from 13.21-15.35%, 9 of which are essential amino acids in humans. RAPD and isozymes showed similarly high estimates of genetic variability. Genetic relationships revealed by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean clustering analysis based on data obtained from all primers of RAPD and each isozyme were very similar. The antioxidant potential based on free radical scavenging, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, b-carotene-linoleate, total phenolic, and flavonoid contents values were variable among accessions. We found that fenugreek is a valuable genetic resource with high antioxidant activity. Their genotypes, based on data and clustering of RAPD, isozymes, and variable amino acid contents, combined with their antioxidant potential statues are important in fenugreek breeding and improvement programs.