Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of Black Fonio ( Digitaria iburua ) Accessions Collected in Northern Nigeria

Black fonio (Digitaria iburua) is a small annual herbaceous cereal crop, which produces very small grains. Fonio belongs to the family Poaceae, sub-family of Panicoideae, and genus Digitaria. It is believed to have a great potential in solving food crisis and malnutrition, but Limited information is available on various aspects of this crop. This study aimed to characterize nutritional, phytochemical and diversity among the black fonio accessions collected in Northern Nigeria. The study was conducted in Bauchi state Northeast of Nigeria. In this study, 41 black fonio accessions were sowed using alpha lattice design. An analysis on nutritional, phytochemical and diversity among the accessions was carried out. The molecular diversity study of the accessions was carried out using 14 SSR markers. The data obtained in this study were analysed using R-programming for nutritional and phytochemical data and DARWin software for molecular data. The result showed mean proximate contents as follows; moisture (7.97%), Protein (9.343%), lipid (2.96%), fibre (2.16%), Ash (2.11%), Carbohydrate (77.53%), and energy (365.5134 kcal). Microelements detected in D. iburua include Potassium (1.9 mg/l), Zinc (0.55 mg/l), Phosphorous (8.62 mg/l), Sulfur (37.3%), Sodium (1.3 mg/l), Magnesium (0.15 mg/l), Iron (0.15 mg/l), Copper (0.17 mg/l), and Calcium (1.52 mg/l). In addition, phytochemical analysis indicates the present of alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin, phenol and tannin in the selected solvents. Finally, D. iburua displayed three major clusters with genetic similarity at 0.68. In conclusion, the outcome of this study signified that black fonio accessions qualified to be good sources of functional diets for health as well as it could serve as future crops for solving the global food crisis and malnutrition in changing climate.