Biochemical Assessments of some Important Components in Tubers, Leaves and Calli Cultures of Three Jerusalem Artichoke Cultivars

Abstract

D UE to several bioproducts derived from Jerusalem artichoke (JA), it has several ecological and economical benefits in bioenergy production, functional foods and human health. These bio-based multi-products include fructose, inulin, antioxidants, natural fungicides and bio-ethanol. This study included the assessment of some biochemical components of in vitro calli cultures, in vivo tubers and leaves of three JA cultivars and their significant role for human health. Inulin as a functional food ingredient, fructose, protein and polyphenols were selected. The most important findings demonstrated that the crude content in tubers of any studied JA cultivar was 4-5 folds that in calli cultures. The lowest values of fructose among JA fractions were recorded for calli derived from the three studied cultivars. Both calli culutres and leaves of all studied JA cultivars showed the highest crude protein comparing with the tubers. The total soluble phenols were higher in calli cultures of all JA cultivars than which recorded with both of leaves and tubers. This is the first report handles the comparison among calli cultures, tubers and leaves of three JA cultivars in their content of the bioactive compounds. Further investigations are required not only to determine the fractionations of the bioactive compounds but also different approaches of plant biotechnology techniques should be employed to increase the studied bioactive components particularly the inulin and fructose in calli cultures of the investigated JA cultivars.