Agro-Morphological Evaluation of Four Morphotypes of Chrysanthellum americanum L. VATKE in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso

Abstract

Aims: Chrysanthellum americanum L. VATKE is a herbaceous plant widely used in traditional medicine to treat a wide range of illnesses (kidney stones, anemia, malaria, etc.). Knowledge of the growth potential, vegetative development and phytochemical potential of a  number of Chrysanthellum americanum L. VATKE morphotypes could contribute to the development of the species. It is in this context that this study was initiated, with a view to gaining knowledge of the agro-morphological characteristics of Chrysanthellum americanum L. VATKE. Methodology: The study was carried out at the experimental station of the Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles Saria (INERA/Saria). Four morphotypes (MT1, MT2, MT3 and MT4) from a mixture of Chrysanthellem americanum seed collected from Bobo, Nandiala and Tema were grown in a Fisher design with three replications. Result: A total of 27 agro-morphological parameters, including 8 qualitative and 19 quantitative, were observed and measured. Morphotypes showed variation in achene color and stem habit. Significant differences between morphotypes were observed for parameters linked to growth, the phenological cycle of plants and yield. The MT3 morphotype was the best performer, with a wide plant spread (22.34±1.02 cm), longer (10.78±0.57 cm) and wider (6.28±0.21 cm) leaves, a high number of secondary branches (10.78±0.52), better achene (1.44±0.12 t/ha) and fresh haulm (10.08±0.31 t/ha) yields. Morphotype MT4 achieved the highest thousand achene weight (0.70 g), and morphotypes MT1 and MT4 recorded the highest fertile achene/flower frequencies (73%). Conclusion: For cycle length, morphotypes MT1 and MT2 were early with 71.33±2.40 JAS and 69.00±2.52 JAS.MT1 and MT2 could be domesticated in the Sudano-Sahelian zone due to their short cycle.