Evaluation of Chokuwa Paddy (Semi glutinous) Landraces of Assam for Nutritive Values and Genetic Diversity Based on Seed Protein Profile by SDS-PAGE

Chokuwas are a group of unique and indigenous landraces of paddy cultivated in certain pockets of Upper Assam as Kharif paddy. Analysis of nutritive value for this lesser known and little explored paddy group shows that protein content varied from 7.20% to 10.86%, carbohydrate from 68.05% to 81.52% and lipid content from 1.90% to 3.57% with calorific value in the range of 320.87 Kcal/100gm to 376.83 Kcal/100gm. On the other hand dietary fibre varied from 0.92% to 1.40% while total mineral in the form of ash content varied from 0.90% to 1.43%. Chokuwas are rare, endemic with limited number of landraces but molecular analysis based on seed protein profile shows that considerable genetic diversity exists. Dendrogram based on seed protein electrophoretic profile showed three distinct clusters. Notably, five different landraces with same ethnic name “Soru Chokuwa” collected from five different localities have been found to be all different from each other in terms of nutritional parameters as well as genetically. Three protein bands with size 20.3, 13.4 and 11.6 Kd were consistently found in all landraces and can be considered as markers.