Abstract

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are micronutrient-rich orphan crops with emerging potential in nutraceutical biofortification. This study analyzed 26 ALV variants across eight species cultivated in western Kenya, evaluating leaf ionome profiles for six elements (K, Ca, Fe, Sr, Mn, Zn) using X-ray fluorescence and MIR spectroscopy. Soil parameters were also profiled to assess edaphic influences. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering revealed four nutrient-defined groups: Cluster 1 (Mn-Zn rich), Cluster 2 (Fe-Sr dense), Cluster 0 (balanced K-Ca), and Cluster 3 (moderate Zn-Mn). Strong correlations were observed between Ca-Sr (r = 0.879) and Mn-Zn (r = 0.515), indicating co-accumulation patterns. Cluster analysis and elemental profiling revealed Amaranth 23 and Cowpea 19 as dual-enriched accessions with particularly high iron and strontium concentrations (3810 and 143 ppm for Amaranth 23; 3200 and 154 ppm for Cowpea 19, respectively), marking them as promising candidates for Fe-targeted biofortification. These findings are based on observed Fe-Sr co-accumulation patterns rather than composite scoring. Pumpkin leaves and Kale-22 displayed broad-spectrum micronutrient profiles, suitable for addressing multiple deficiencies. The integration of ionomic profiling with multivariate statistics and soil analysis provides a robust framework for pre-breeding pipelines. These findings underscore the value of ALVs in dietary diversification, community seed exchange, and strategic biofortification, contributing to regional food and mineral micronutrient nutrition security.

Key words: African leafy vegetables (ALVs), biofortification, ionomics, multivariate clustering, nutraceutical prebreeding, nutrient density, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis.