Short communication. Mineral composition in foliage of some cultivated and wild species of Chenopodium

Members of the genus Chenopodium are used as a foliage crop and fodder in many parts of the world. Forty accessions of Chenopodium spp. (C. album, C. berlandieri, C. bushianum, C. giganteum, C. murale, C. quinoa, and C. ugandae) were sown in a randomized block design with 3 replications. For determination of mineral composition, leaves of each accession from each replication were collected from lower, middle and upper regions of the plant, bulked together and transported to the laboratory. All the samples were analyzed in triplicate. The present study showed that Chenopodium spp. is a rich source of minerals like (means, in mg 100 mg-1) potassium (6,329), sodium (8,350), calcium (1,154) and iron (83.92). The heritability estimates were high for all the minerals, with potassium and nickel showing the highest values (99.49 and 99.16% respectively). Sodium was positively correlated with calcium (0.483**) and copper (0.274*). Copper was negatively correlated with all heavy metals except iron and nickel. Leaf size was negatively correlated with potassium and chromium, and positively correlated with calcium and copper. This study would be of immense importance in enhancement of minerals in chenopod foliage as well as in mitigating nutritional deficiency prevalent among the poor populations in the developing countries.