Assessment of copper, manganese, zinc and sodium in indigenous genotypes of black pepper from Uttara Kannada district

Abstract

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.,), belonging to the family Piperaceae and widely used spice in the world. Black pepper is not only valued for its flavor but also for its nutritional content. Black pepper is rich source of bioactive compounds such as piperine but contains macro and microminerals vital for human health. This investigation was carried out in the Department of Postharvest Management, College of Horticulture, Bengaluru during the year 2019-20 and 2020-21. The main objective of this experiment was biochemical estimation Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn) and Sodium (Na) content of 52 indigenous black pepper genotype of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka by using completely randomized design. Among the genotypes studied, SV 5 exhibited the highest copper concentration (70.63 ppm), Kodamod Special genotype stood out with the highest levels of both zinc (66.64 ppm) and manganese (44.38 ppm) and SV 3 demonstrated the maximum sodium content (404.44 ppm). These results highlight the rich microminerals content and genetic variation found in native black pepper varieties.