Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.)
is a potential legume crop of the tropics with high
protein and oil content in the seeds. Analysis of the
mutual genotypic relationships among twenty four
genotypes of P. tetragonolobus through Mantel test
found a significant correlation (r = 0.839) between
similarity matrices of the results obtained from the
use of the RAPD and ISSR molecular markers. The
UPGMA tree based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficient
generated from their cumulative data showed
two distinct clusters and seven sub-clusters among
these accessions. Quantification of total polyphenols,
flavonoids and tannin revealed the highest percentage
of occurrence of kaempferol (1.07 - 790.5 μg/g) and
the lowest percentage of gallic acid (0.09 - 3.49 μg/g) in
the seeds. Phytochemical analysis of the winged bean
genotypes revealed that, some of the exotic lines are
distinct. Analysis of photosynthesis rate, photosynthetic
yield and stomatal conductance data also
showed two clusters and was in congruence with the
phytochemical affinities of the genotypes. The overall
high level of polymorphism and varied range of genetic
distances across the genotypes revealed a wide
range of genetic base of P. tetragonolobus. The present
investigation therefore, has provided significant
insights for further improvement of winged bean
germplasm for its qualitative and quantitative traits.