Drying and nutrient elements investigation in young seedling and seeds of lignosus bean

Lignosus {Dipogon lignosus (L.) Verdc.} bean is a member of Fabaceae and its young seedling and green seeds are used as vegetables, dry seeds as ‘dhal’ and biomass as fodder and green manure. Young seedling of 15–days old seedlings, physiological mature (PM) green and dry seeds were analyzed to determine nutrient elements (total N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn and Na) in the two morphotypes (White and Red) of lignosus bean. PM seeds were also subjected to sun (2, 4, 8 and 12 days) and oven drying (24, 48 and 72 hours) to assess drying time/period. Results revealed that 8 to 12–days sun drying and 72–hours oven drying at 80°C appeared good for storing PM green seeds. Young seedling of white morphotype possessed significantly higher K, Ca and Na (2.29 %, 1.883 % and 1132.6 ppm respectively) than the red morphotype (1.88 %, 1.64 % and 895.6 ppm respectively), while the other nutrient elements were statistically similar and hence the young seedlings, green and dry seeds possessed the appreciable nutrient elements. It might be concluded that sun drying for about 12–days appeared feasible for drying green seeds while nutrient contents of young seedlings and green and dry seeds were also good in the two morphotypes.

Key words: Lignosus Bean, Nutrient Element, Drying, Physiological Maturity (PM)