ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Agron.
Sec. Plant-Soil Interactions
Genotype × Soil Zinc Interaction Constrains Grain Zn in a Biofortified Common Bean under Farmer Management
Provisionally accepted
Annie Mtimuni Matumba1,2*
Patson C. Nalivata2
Murray R. Lark3Joseph G. Chimungu2
Maurice Monjerezi4Lolit Wilson3
Moses M. Limuwa2
Martin R. Broadley5Louise E. Ander6
Elizabeth H. Bailey3- 1Department of agricultural research, Lilongwe, Malawi
- 2Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lilongwe, Malawi
- 3University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
- 4University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi
- 5Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom
- 6British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Biofortified crops are deployed to combat micronutrient deficiencies, but their efficacy in nutrient-poor soils is poorly understood. We evaluated the zinc (Zn) loading capacity of a biofortified bean variety NUA45 across nine smallholder-managed sites in Malawi with contrasting soil Zn status. NUA45 frequently failed to achieve its target grain Zn concentration (56 mg kg-¹), with grain Zn strongly correlated with soil Zn availability (R = 0.419, p < 0.001). In contrast, local varieties, though not bred for enhanced Zn, often accumulated higher grain Zn concentrations, averaging 8.5 percent more than NUA45, and showed no dependence on soil Zn status (R = -0.019, p = 0.939). Across 78 % of the sites had soils with DTPA-extractable Zn below the agronomic threshold of 1 mg kg-¹. The analysis revealed a significant genotype × soil Zn interaction (p = 0.043) indicating that soil factors strongly modulate the expression of biofortified traits. These findings reveal that biofortified genotypes alone cannot ensure adequate Zn accumulation where soil Zn is limiting. Integrated interventions combining soil management, Zn fertilization, and breeding for enhanced translocation efficiency are therefore required to achieve nutritional targets in legumes and other smallholder crops globally.
Keywords: zinc biofortification, common bean, genotype-environment interaction, DTPA-extractable zinc, Nutrient bioavailability, Soil zinc availability
Received: 14 Sep 2025; Accepted: 13 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Matumba, Nalivata, Lark, Chimungu, Monjerezi, Wilson, Limuwa, Broadley, Ander and Bailey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Annie Mtimuni Matumba, anniematumba@gmail.com
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