Phenotypic, Nutritional, and Antioxidant Characterization of Blanched Oenanthe javanica for Preferable Cultivar

Abstract

Blanching is a technique used in blocking sunlight for the production of tender, sweet, and delicious stems in the field. This technique is also used in water dropwort (Oenanthe javanica), an important vegetable in East Asia. In China, the steamed stems of water dropwort are prepared with boiled rice. However, the effect of blanching on the nutritional level and antioxidant capacity of water dropwort has not been explored yet. The current study aims to determine the nutrient contents and antioxidant capacities of five cultivars and select the best cultivar. They were mainly compared in terms of phenotypic, physiological, nutritional, and antioxidant levels after blanch cultivation. Results indicate that blanching significantly influenced the phenotype, physiology, and nutritional level of water dropwort in all cultivars. Although few parameters decreased with blanching, starch, sugars, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant activities increased significantly in the blanched stems in mid- and post-blanching periods. The most noticeable changes were detected in post-blanching samples. Furthermore, the best cultivar (V11E0012) was identified among them. Therefore, blanched water dropwort could be consumed for achieving more nutraceuticals and antioxidants, and cultivar V11E0012 could be recommend for blanching cultivation.

Effect of Salt Stress on Growth, Physiological Parameters, and Ionic Concentration of Water Dropwort (Oenanthe javanica) Cultivars

“…For determination of chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations, approximately 100 mg of fresh leaves was homogenized with 80% acetone and centrifuged at 7,000 × g for 10 min. The supernatant was collected, and the absorbance (A) was measured at 663 nm for chlorophyll a , 646 nm for chlorophyll b , and 470 nm for carotenoid using an ELISA plate reader (i3× molecular devices, United States; Sarker and Oba, 2020a ; Kumar et al, 2021 ). The concentration of chlorophyll and carotenoids was calculated as follows:…”

“…The diluted extracts were used for determination of soluble sugar content using a commercially available test kit (A145-1-1, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). Finally, the absorbance was measured at 620 nm and the soluble sugar concentration expressed and the results expressed in the fresh weight (FW) basis ( Dai et al, 2018 ; Kumar et al, 2021 ).…”

“…It is mainly cultivated in East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia ( Jeon et al, 2007 ; Lee and Kim, 2009 ; Lu and Li, 2019 ). Water dropwort contains high contents of minerals and vitamins, and demonstrates medicinal properties ( Jiang et al, 2015 ; Lu and Li, 2019 ; Kumar et al, 2020 , 2021 ). It has been traditionally used as a vegetable in China.…”

Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Provides Novel Insights into the Blanched Stem of Oenanthe javanica

“…It is commonly used in different dishes in East Asian countries because of its distinctive aroma and flavor. In China, people use the steamed stem of water dropwort with boiled rice, and the fried stem of blanched water dropwort is also very popular in China [4,[6][7][8].…”

“…The entire water dropwort or its parts are covered in the soil. Different blanching techniques, such as deep planting method, deep water softening method, and soil molding method, are used in processing water dropwort [6,8,10]. The deep planting technique is the most suitable method for water dropwort blanching [11].…”