Morphological characterization, plant growth, yield and pod properties of some winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) genotypes

Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC) is an important vegetable with high nutritional value. As a tropical vegetable, it contains high protein, fat, unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins. This vegetable, being an important source of protein, is a well-known pulses and also called the soybean jelly or green gold of the tropics. Winged beans are grown in approximately 80 countries around the world, however it is an unknown vegetable in Turkey. The aim of this study was to grow winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC) in Turkey condition, morphological characterization and determination of some plant growth, yield and pod characteristics. In the study, 8 winged bean genotypes brought from AVRDC (Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center) were used as plant material and morphologically characterized for 25 traits and also seed measurements, plant measurements, yield, pod characteristics, protein and fatty acids analysis were conducted. According to the research results, the seed average weight was varied between 0.24 and 0.34 g, the seed width was between 7.66 and 9.23 mm, the seed length was between 7.08 and 8.16 mm and the seed thickness was between 6.01 and 7.05 mm in the 8 genotypes. Seed emergence rates were between 58.50 and 86.00% and emergence time was between 18.58 and 31.91 days. The best plant growth was observed from 4WBE-001 in the measurements carried out at 3 different dates in the plant. The weakest developed genotype was PT-016. Yields were obtained from only 4 genotypes that flowered under Adana conditions and yield ranged from 0.19 to 0.40 kg plot^‑1. Generally, the genotype 4WBE-001 gave the highest results in pod measurements. The highest protein content was obtained in 4WBE-001 (49.66%) and the lowest in Poung-Chawa (23.47%). It has been noted that the most abundant fatty acids were palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid and behenic acids in the winged bean pods and seeds. In the morphological characterization, the purple winged bean genotype was found to be the most distant from the others. PT-003 and PT-029 genotypes were 83.57% similar to each other.