# Phenotypic, Genetic, and Metabolite Variability among Genotypes of _Vicia sativa_ L.
## 1 Introduction  
The genus _Vicia_ L. belongs to the Fabeae tribe of the Papilionidae subfamily, which also includes _Lathyrus, Lens_, and _Pisum_[1]. This genus contains 162 to 210 annual or perennial species that are cultivated in Europe, Asia, North America, temperate South America, and tropical Africa; however, exact numbers are uncertain [2]. According to archaeological data [3, 4], the Mediterranean basin is the principal center of origin and diversification [5]. The common vetch (_Vicia sativa_) is widely grown around the world because of its advantages in terms of economic value and ecological protection [6]. The common vetch is mostly cultivated as a winter forage legume due to its exceptional nutritional value and biochemical and antioxidant attributes [7; 8]. It serves various purposes such as being utilized for green manure, pasture, silage, and hay. Its adaptability to a broad spectrum of climate and soil conditions makes it an ideal choice as an intercrop for cereals. According to [PERSON] et al. [9], the common vetch is mostly referred to as an inexpensive and abundant source of protein and minerals with high digestibility and high energy content for animal feed. Additionally, because the common vetch interacts symbiotically with rhizobia soil bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen, its production is ideal in sustainable agricultural systems as it uses fewer fertilizers and emits fewer pollutants, such as pollutant gases [10]. This contributes to enhancing soil properties [2; 6; 11; 12]. According to FAO [13], the production of the common vetch is mostly concentrated in Ethiopia, the Russian Federation, and Spain. The annual production of the common vetch is more than 934.388 tons, and its cultivation area is 540.761 ha [13]. Genotypic diversity for various morphological and agronomical traits is a prerequisite in order to organize a breeding program and to develop improved varieties. Furthermore, morphological diversity among genotypes is primarily used by international organizations like the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) or the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) as the main criterion to distinguish different varieties and provide breeders rights. These organizations have produced specific textbooks for numerous plant species with guidelines for the specific traits that must be measured to better assess genotypic diversity (CPVO). Genetic analyses and the identification of variability among populations as well as their metabolic profiles are crucial for the conservation of the species as well as for breeding efforts [14]. It has been recently revealed that metabolic markers for plant breeding can be found using focused metabolite analyses [15]. When metabolites are used to evaluate genetic diversity and when levels of a particular metabolite are associated with agronomic traits, they could play a crucial role in the selection process [16; 17]. With the development of molecular marker technology, a variety of molecular markers have been used to evaluate genetic diversity in plant species. Examples include the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker in _Taraxacum koksaghyz_[18], single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker in _Miscanthus_, _Saccharum_, and related grasses [19], inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in _Dactyls glomerta_[20], and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker in _Medicago sativa_[21] and in Siberian _Elymus sibiricus_[22]. The start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphism marker is a relatively new marker system. The short-conserved area bordering the adenine-thymine-guanine (ATG) start codon in plant genes served as the basis for the development of these molecular markers [23; 24]. The main advantage of SCoT molecular markers is that one primer is used for forward and reverse priming and is comparable to random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers.