<i>Acacia</i> seeds: compositional variation based on species, growing locations and harvest years

Abstract Three different Acacia seeds (A. retinodes, A. provincialis and A. tenuissima) harvested from different locations and in different years were analysed for their variations in proximate and mineral composition. Results showed no one species had the highest content across all proximate and mineral analyses, for example, A. retinodes Harmans 2020 had the highest ash (3.7%), A. retinodes Harmans 2022 had the highest protein content (31.3%), A. tenuissima Hindmarsh 2020 had the highest fat content (18.5%) and A. provincialis Tarrington 2022 had the highest magnesium content (469 mg/100 g). Principle component analysis was carried out to determine the effect of species, harvest locations and years on the chemical composition. A biplot of the first two principal components with a total of 60.5% variation showed clustering based on harvest years. The compositions of the Acacia seeds were determined to be affected by species, harvest location and year differences. However, a complete gene–environment interaction study is needed to validate this.