Effect of rhizobium inoculation on yield and some quality properties of fresh cowpea

Biological nitrogen fixation is considered important to maintain agricultural sustainability. In this study, 2 different cowpea varieties were used consisting of 6 different treatments (seed inoculation, soil inoculation, nitrogen application, seed inoculation + nitrogen application, soil inoculation + nitrogen application, and control) to determine the effect of rhizobium inoculation on fresh cowpea yield and quality. The protein, total phenolic, β-carotene, chlorogenic acid, ascorbic acid, total and reducing sugar contents of fresh pods were investigated. Besides, parameters such as total fresh yield, pod width, pod length, and total chlorophyll in leaves were also investigated. As a result, it was determined that both rhizobium inoculation and nitrogen applications positively affected all parameters compared to the control treatment. Thus, rhizobium inoculation has the potential to be an alternative to nitrogen applications in fresh cowpea cultivation.