The beetroot is typically on the table in winter in form of pickles or juice, but for its nutritional values it would deserve more common consumption. Its curative effect in great part is due to the several vitamins, minerals, and compounds with antioxidant activity. But the division of biological active compounds is very different in the parts of the root. Based on our results, we could compare the differences between the morphology and some inner contents (soluble solid content, colour, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and polyphenol contents, antioxidant activity, and some fl avonoids) of two beetroot cultivars. The results of the morphological investigations showed that the 'Cylindre' cultivar had more favourable crop parameters than the 'Alto F1' cultivar. In the 'Cylindre' cultivar the polyphenol content and the antioxidant capacity were signifi cantly higher than in the 'Alto F1' cultivar. By determination of the betanin contents of the investigated beetroots, our results showed both betacyanin and betaxanthin contents were higher in the 'Cylindre' cultivar. The chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, the cumaric acid have been identifi ed based on the peaks of HPLC in the studied beetroot cultivars.Keywords: beetroot, antioxidant capacity, polyphenol content, betacyanin, betaxanthin, fl avonoidsThe beetroot is native to the Mediterranean area and ancestor of the wild form of Beta vulgaris L. var. maritime. The Greeks and Romans knew and cultivated and consumed the beetroot in the 2 nd -3 nd centuries. It became known in Hungary in the 17 th . century. The beetroot is one of the ten most powerful vegetables regarding antioxidant capacity. The polyphenol content for the total dry matter is 50-60 mol g -1 (VINSON et al., 1998;KAHKONEN et al., 1999).Its curative effect in great part is due to the numerous vitamins (C-, B vitamins, folic acid and beta carotenes among others) and high mineral content (iron, copper, magnesium, and calcium). BERRADA and co-workers (2007) have determined the K, Cl, P, Mg, and Na contents in natural red beet by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis.KUJALA and his colleagues determined that the total phenol content of beetroot is decreasing towards the inside of the beet body. Fifty percent of the total phenol content is in the peel, 37% is in the crown, and 13% is in the body. Betalain content of the crown is 32% and of the root is 14% (KUJALA et al., 2000). The valuable colour contents of the beetroot are nitrogen-containing, water-soluble pigments, these are the betalains. These can be divided into two main groups; the red betacyanins and the yellow betaxanthins. The major betacyanin pigment in the beetroot is betanin, which is a betanidin-5-O-β-glucoside. The betanidin is the aglycolic form of the betanin. The major betaxanthin is the vulgaxanthin in the red beet (KUGLER et al., 2007). The beetroot also contains anthocyanins, which are responsible for the * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone: +36-1-482-6035, fax: +36-1-482-6327, e-mail: dora.szekely@uni-corvinus.hu
SZÉKELY et al.: D...
