Nutrient composition of climbing and prostrate vegetable cowpea accessions

The study evaluated the nutrient content of different accessions of two vegetable cowpea genotypes. The mineral content of the vegetable cowpea accessions were high. Potassium content of the accessions of the climbing genotype "Akidi enu" ranged from 1.25 to 1.52% with a mean value of 1.43 +/- 0.13% while in the accessions of the prostrate genotype "Akidi ani" the range was from 1.26 to 1.45% with a mean value of 1.36 +/- 0.10%. "Akidi enu" had a mean P content of 0.74 +/- 0.13% which was lower than a mean value of 0.87 +/- 0.14% obtained for "Akidi ani". "Akidi enu" had higher Ca content than "Akidi ani". Protein contents of the vegetable cowpea genotypes were quite high ranging from 19.89 to 26.56% with a mean value of 23.52 +/- 2.75% in "Akidi enu" and from 24.68 to 25.25% with a mean value of 24.97 +/- 0.29% in "Akidi ani". Among the trace metals (Fe, Zn, Mn and Co), iron had the highest values, in the climbing genotype (Akidi enu), Fe ranged from 82.75 to 125.00 mg/kg with a mean value of 102.69 +/- 17.33 mg/kg. The prostate genotype of the vegetable cowpea (Akidi ani) had slightly lower amount of this nutrient with a mean value of 95.31 +/- 27.19 mg/kg and a range of 68.12 to 122.50 mg/kg. Zinc content of the vegetable cowpea ranged from 27.62 to 37.62 mg/kg with a mean value of 32.58 +/- 4.08 mg/kg in "Akidi enu". The content of this element was slightly higher in "Akidi ani" which had a mean value of 36.50 +/- 9.00 mg/kg and a range of 27.50 to 45.50 mg/kg. It was concluded that both cowpea genotypes were high in nutrient content.