Morphological, nutritional and chemical description of “Vatikiotiko”, an onion local landrace from Greece

Abstract

ABSTRACT"Vatikiotiko" is an onion local landrace from Greece with special quality features, such as strong and pungent taste and storability. In this study, we tried for the first time to describe this landrace and record its morphological traits and nutritional value in comparison with commercially cultivated genotypes ("Creamgold", "Red Cross F1" and "Sivan F1"). Nutritional value of "Vatikiotiko" was higher than commercial genotypes, whereas total sugars, fructose and glucose content were lower in "Vatikiotiko" and "Creamgold" onions. Fatty acids composed mostly from polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and α-linolenic acid), whereas for "Vatikiotiko" saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were detected in equal amounts (29.79 and 30.60%, respectively). "Vatikiotiko" and "Creamgold" had low antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging activity), especially when comparing with "Sivan F1" and "Red Cross F1", whereas no flavonoids were detected in "Vatikiotiko". The overview of "Vatikiotiko" landrace supported its special character regarding its nutritional value (sugar content, mineral composition and fatty acids profile) and the necessity to revalorize and protect its traditional culture. The potential of introducing it as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product has also been discussed.

Assessing the genetic diversity in onion (Allium cepaL.) landraces from northwest Spain and comparison with the European variability

“…In spite of such significance, the exploration of novel onion genetic resources and particularly their characterisation and exploitation have been limited and primarily hampered by the out-breeding and biennial habit of the crop, as well as by the paucity of large sets of robust molecular markers (McCallum 2007). Thus, the research works focused for example on the assessment of onion landraces has been exiguous in the European Community and mainly centred in agro-morphological characterisations and analyses of organoleptic traits (Rodrigues et al 2012;Riggi et al 2013;Ferioli & D'Antuono 2015;Petropoulos et al 2015). Similar trends have been observed in Spain (Mallor et al 2011;Simó et al 2013).…”

Nutrient solution composition and growing season affect yield and chemical composition of Cichorium spinosum plants

“…Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Perkin Elmer 1100B, USA) and K content by flame photometry (Sherwood Model 410, UK; Petropoulos et al, 2015) Total nitrogen in leaves was measured according to Kjeldahl method (O'Bryan et al, 2017). Briefly, total nitrogen was determined as follows: 1 g of tissue was digested in glass tubes at 450°C for 4 h with concentrated H 2 SO 4 until samples were transparent.…”

“…Inhibition of β-carotene bleaching was evaluated though the β-carotene/linoleate assay; the neutralization of linoleate free radicals avoids β-carotene bleaching, which is measured by the formula: β-carotene absorbance after 2 h of assay/initial absorbance) × 100. Lipid peroxidation inhibition in porcine brain homogenates was evaluated by the decrease in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS); the color intensity of the malondialdehyde-thiobarbituric acid (MDA-TBA) was measured by its absorbance at 532 nm; the inhibition ratio (%) was calculated using the following formula: [(A − B)/A] × 100%, where A and B were the absorbance of the control and the sample solution, respectively (Petropoulos et al, 2015). The results were expressed in EC 50 values (sample concentration providing 50% of antioxidant activity for DPPH, β-carotene bleaching and TBARS assays, or 0.5 of absorbance at 690 nm for the reducing power assay) for antioxidant activity and Trolox was used as a positive control.…”

Local food: benefits and failings due to modern agriculture

“…For example, 'Vatikiotiko' is a local onion landrace from Greece with special quality features, such as strong and pungent taste and storability. In their study, Petropoulos et al (2015) sought to characterize the 'Vatikiotiko' landrace and record its morphological traits and nutritional value in comparison with commercially cultivated genotypes. They found the 'Vatikiotiko' landrace to indeed have unique nutritional value (sugar content, mineral composition and fatty acids profile) in comparison to commercial genotypes, providing an argument to potentially introduce it as PDO or PGI.…”