Gum content and viscosity in VIR guar accessions grown under irrigation and artificial drought conditions in Volgograd Region

Background. The gum extracted from guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.), a tropical legume, is an important strategic resource required in such fundamental sectors of the Russian economy as oil and gas production. It is a polysaccharide galactomannan with high gelling capacity, making it used as a thickener and stabilizer in many other sectors of the national economy. The Russian Federation imports guar gum. Following the introduction of guar to the Russian Federation in the early 21st century, opportunities for domestic gum production emerged. In this regard, research is needed to determine how the quantity and quality of the plant-produced gum depend on genotype and environment, and to find ways to maximize these characteristics. Materials and Methods. Twelve guar accessions from the VIR collection were analyzed: four tolerant, four sensitive and four neutral to drought. Seed gum content and the reduced specific viscosity were determined using a rapid laboratory method for obtaining gum extracts for viscometric evaluation. The data were statistically processed using the Statistica 13.3 package. Results. The average gum content in the seeds across the accessions was 22.3%, and the reduced specific viscosity (η) was 10,770. The gum content was found to weakly depend on such analyzed factors as the year, water supply regime, and the response of the accession to water supply. It was established that the variability of the reduced specific viscosity was mostly affected by the genotype (51%). The content and reduced specific viscosity of gum in guar seeds were insensitive to artificial drought initiated after the onset of fruiting and to the water supply regime. The accessions with the highest gum content and η values have been identified. Conclusion. A comparatively higher reduced specific viscosity of gum was found in drought-tolerant genotypes. The year of the experiment turned out to be the second most important factor after the genotype. We suppose that the longer maturation period in 2023 and the higher total accumulated active temperatures contributed to the higher content and higher reduced specific viscosity of the gum.

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