Heat-related traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) play a crucial role in reducing the harmful effect of heat stress, as the increase in heat stress is predicted to occur in the coming years due to global warming as a result of climate change. The advantage of multiple pods per peduncle and compound (imparipinnate) leaf traits in kabuli chickpea has not been properly revealed under heat stress conditions. We, therefore, want (i) to provide insight into the advantage of multiple pods and compound leaf traits over single pod per node and simple (unifoliolate) leaf traits, and (ii) to determine the highest direct and indirect effects of agro-morphological traits on seed yield in chickpeas under rainfed conditions with prevailing heat stress. With a delayed sowing time, the plants were subjected to heat stress of more than 43 °C in flowering and pod setting stages under field conditions. According to the number of pods per node and leaf shape, plants were evaluated for yield and yield components, and were divided into six groups, namely (i) single-pod and compound leaf, (ii) single-pod and simple leaf, (iii) double-pods and compound leaf, (iv) double-pods and simple leaf, (v) multi-pods and compound leaf, and (vi) multi-pods and simple leaf. Plants with multi-pods and compound leaf traits had the highest seed yield, followed by plants with double-pods and compound leaf, while plants with single-pod and simple leaf had the lowest yield. The number of seeds and pods per plant, 100-seed weight, and leaf shape were the highest determinants of seed yield under heat stress conditions. It was concluded that multi-pods per peduncle and compound leaf traits had an obviously incontrovertible advantage in kabuli chickpeas under heat stress conditions. The plant shapes that nature has evolved for millions of years, which are mostly found in wild plants, have been proven by the current study to have a better fitness ability than plants shaped by human hands.

Lathyrus sativus L. is considered one of the most promising calorie and protein sources for the vast, expanding populations living in drought-prone and marginalized areas of the world. This study was conducted to determine the β-N-oxalyl-L-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP), L-homoarginine, and asparagine content of a total of 173 Lathyrus sativus L. genotypes, of which 93 were collected under natural conditions in Antalya. The β-ODAP, L-homoarginine, and asparagine content of Lathyrus sativus L. genotypes ranged from 1.55 to 20.8 mg/g seeds, 1.35 to 11.64 mg/g seeds, and 0.59 to 5.22 mg/g seeds, respectively.

This study was conducted to determine vitamin A, B, C, b-carotene and amino acid profile in 18 genotypes and four grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) varieties which have low b-ODAP. Present results indicated that retinol, b-carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothene, pyridoxine, folic acid and ascorbic acid ranged from 25.6 to 44.1 µg/kg; 240.8 to 410.1 µg/kg, 3.74 to 5.44; 1.86 to 2.76; 12.37 to 20.25; 14.43 to 22.41; 4.92 to 6.62; 4.04 to 6.77 and 33.4 to 58.2 mg/kg, respectively in seeds. In addition to, the amino acid profile of the genotypes differed significantly and total amino acid amounts were found to be 19.69 to 23.48 g/100 g seeds. A large and significant variation was observed among these genotypes with low b-ODAP content in respect to the quality of the nutrient content. This variability will be useful to breeders for utilization in grass pea improvement.

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is an important protein source in arid regions as both human and animal food. Despite its significance, the use of grass pea is limited by the presence of β-N-oxalyl-L-a,b-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP) which can cause neurological disorders. Breeding studies in grass pea have therefore focused on developing high-yielding varieties with low β-ODAP content. However, the narrow range of genetic diversity and the restricted genomic tools in grass pea have slowed progress in such breeding. The present investigation was conducted to explore the genetic diversity of low β-ODAP germplasm consisting of 22 accessions with 31 EST-SSR markers. The molecular analyses revealed a total of 133 alleles ranging from 142 to 330 bp with a mean number of alleles per locus of 4.29. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) value was calculated as 0.49, and the EST-SSRs in loci S5, S6 and S116 were of the most informative PICs. A dendrogram based on Nei’s genetic distance matrix revealed that breeding lines were grouped in two main clusters. Genetic distances were higher between GP6/GP11, GP4/GP11 and GP5/GP8 accessions which could be further used in crop improvement studies for developing wider genetic diversity.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a summer crop and its production is threatened by drought stress (WS) due to increased aridity and higher temperature worldwide. Breeding sesame accessions that are more tolerant to WS is therefore highly important for sustainable seed production. Here, 21 accessions representing 12 sesame‐growing countries were evaluated with yield and quality traits under two different water‐regime treatments as non‐stressed (NS) and WS. The combined analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant variation among the accessions for all agronomic traits. We also found that the effects of treatment and genotype were significant for the quality traits of oil content, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. The t‐test of significance for mean values indicated that there were significant differences between the treatments for plant height, number of branches, number of capsules, and seed yield. The highest yield was found in PI 170735 with the value of 25.6 g/plant in the treatment of WS. The higher values were observed for oil content in NS treatment, the highest amount of oil content was recorded as 53.9% for PI 207664. In addition, higher grand mean was observed for oleic acid under WS treatment. Principal component analysis using the five agronomic traits indicated that 76.60% and 71.18% variability accounted for the first two principal components (PCs) with eigen values ≥ 1 in WS and NS treatments, respectively. The diverse accessions characterized with agro‐quality traits can be used in further improvement programs to develop new drought‐tolerant cultivars.

Lathyrus sativus L., (grass pea) is an annual plant widely grown as a pulse crop and its dried seeds are harvested and consumed as human food since ancient times. This plant is also commonly grown for animal feed and forage. Grass pea seeds may represent a potential source of several important nutrients for human and animal nutrition. Fatty acid compositions of 173 different grass pea accessions have been studied. Present results indicate that total saturated fatty acids, total monounsaturated fatty acids, total polyunsaturated fatty acids, and total fatty acids ranged from 295.72 to 436.94, 113.19 to 170.78, 127.39 to 179.39, 538.04 to 778.98 mg 100 g⁻¹, respectively. In addition, unsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid, linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, and α-linolenic acid that are the main components of fatty acids ranged from 109.22 to 163.95,59.57 to 82.98, 16.18 to 30.38, and 45.56 to 71.59 mg 100 g⁻¹, respectively.