Cool season grain legumes for Mediterranean environments: species × environment interaction in seed quality traits and anti-nutritional factors in the genus Vicia

Seed size and protein, sulfur (S), total phenolics, condensed tannins, and proteinase inhibitor concentrations were measured in 4 Vicia species (V. faba, V. sativa, V. ervilia, V. narbonensis) grown at up to 30 locations in the south-west of Western Australia. There was a species × environment interaction for all seed traits, and this was reflected in the relationships with environmental parameters and other seed traits within each species. For V. faba, it was difficult to account for the production of seed quality traits or antinutritional factors on the basis of descriptive environmental parameters such as climate or edaphic characteristics. The remaining species were more responsive to environmental factors measured throughout the study. Seed size was negatively associated with soil salinity in V. narbonensis and V. ervilia. Seed protein content was positively correlated with soil total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in V. sativa and V. ervilia, and also with electrical conductivity, pH, and exchangeable cations in V. ervilia. The S content of V. narbonensis seeds increased with increasing soil S availability, while the opposite occurred in V. ervilia and V. sativa. Total phenolics were positively associated with total N and P in V. sativa, and negatively correlated with soil clay content, S, and salinity in V. ervilia. Proteinase inhibitors in V. sativa were positively associated with soil salinity, while the opposite was the case in V. ervilia. Proteinase inhibitors in V. ervilia were also negatively correlated with pH, clay content, total N, and exchangeable cations, whereas the total N and exchangeable cations were associated with increasing proteinase inhibitors in V. narbonensis. These complex and contrasting relationships between antinutritional factors and environmental parameters suggest that the carbon: nutrient balance hypothesis, the pre-eminent paradigm used to predict plant resource allocation to N and C based defence, may not be applicable to the seeds of legumes. The agricultural significance of the species ´ environment interaction above depends on the seed characteristic in question. Increased S uptake by V. narbonensis relative to V. ervilia and V. sativa may advantage this species as a fodder crop, given that these species are targeted at alkaline, fine-textured soils where soil S availability is likely to be relatively high. However, in the seed of V. narbonensis and V. sativa, fluctuating concentrations of polyphenolics and condensed tannins occasionally reach the relatively high levels recorded in V. faba, and other anti-nutritional factors not withstanding, this may limit their palatability to monogastrics.