Vol. 12(1), pp. 33-44, July-December 2021 DOI: 10.5897/JCO2020.0222 Article Number: 40BB8FA68269 ISSN 2141-6591 Copyright ©2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/JCO Journal of Cereals and Oilseeds Full Length Research Paper Characterization of finger millet germplasm for mineral contents: Prospects for breeding Ojulong Henry Fred 1* , Patrick Sheunda 2 , Joseph Kibuka 2 , Anil Kumar 3 , Abhishek Rathore 3 , Eric Manyasa 2 and Daniel Ajaku 2 1 International Crop research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Box 776, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 2 International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Box 39063, Nairobi Kenya. 3 International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India Received 13 December, 2020; Accepted 11 February, 2021 Knowledge of existing genetic variability is essential for initiating a successful breeding program. A set of 628 finger millet accessions comprising accessions from the core collection, farmer preferred and improved varieties released in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were profiled for nutrient content. Accessions showed very high variability for the different nutrient contents. Local cultivars and varieties released in the ESA region had significantly lower levels of the main essential nutrients (Ca, Fe, Zn) found in finger millet. Country of origin was highly significant for all the nutrients, with accessions from eastern and southern Africa having significantly lower nutrient contents. Grain color was associated with nutrient content with darker grains having higher compared to white colored. All nutrients were positively correlated (P<0.001) to each other. Grain yield was not significantly correlated to any nutrient content. The substantial variability for the grain nutrients observed in the finger millet core collection and local germplasm indicates the possibility for the selection of nutrient-rich accessions for use in the breeding programs. Key words: Finger millet, micro and macro nutrients, diversity, grain color, glume cover, malnutrition. INTRODUCTION Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) indigenous to eastern Africa is a staple crop upon which millions of people depend on for food and income in rural households. It is adapted to adverse agro-ecological conditions and require minimal input (Adekunle, 2012). This African native crop probably originated in the highlands of Uganda and Ethiopia, where farmers have been growing it for thousands of years (Hilu and de Wet, 1976b). It ranks fourth in importance among millets in the world after sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and fox tail millet (Setaria italica) (Upadhyaya et al., 2007a). Finger millet is widely cultivated in Africa and south Asia under varied agro- climatic conditions (Dida et al., 2008). In Africa, it is extensively cultivated in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi (Mnyenyembe and Gupta, 1998; Obilana et al., 2002). In south Asia, finger millet is widely cultivated in India and Nepal (Upadhyaya et al., 2007b). Wide adaptability (Upadhyaya et al., 2007b), higher nutritional quality *Corresponding author. E-mail: hojulong@cgiar.org. Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License