Morphological and molecular characterization of Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.) and sword bean (Canavalia gladiata L.)

The study examined the molecular, biochemical, and morphological traits on fresh pods of five accessions of sword bean (Canavalia gladiata L.) (SB) and twelve accessions of jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.) (JB). JB 12 had the highest yield (2917.33 g plant−1), greatest number of pods (76.17 plant−1), flowered earliest (60.17 days), and set fruit earliest (64.17 days). SB 5 excelled in average pod length (24.83 cm), yield (3765.25 g plant−1), pod weight (50.38 g), and early flowering (59.75 days). Biochemical profiling revealed high average vitamin C (71.33 mg 100 g−1) and zinc (5.35 mg 100 g−1) in JB 12, with lower antinutrients. SB 5 contained high vitamin C (55.45 mg 100 g−1), protein (15.03 g 100 g−1), and phenols (264.5 mg 100 g−1), with less amount of antinutrients. RAPD markers showed a mean polymorphic information content of 0.26 and a marker index of 1.5. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) and Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) clustering revealed that group I, which was further subdivided into subgroups IA and IB, contained both sword beans and jack beans except for JB 2, whereas JB 2 formed a new group, emphasizing its unique genetic profile.