Variation for antioxidant activity and antioxidants in a subset of AVRDC—the World Vegetable CenterCapsicumcore collection

Abstract

Pepper (Capsicum sp.) is important in human diets in many parts of the world and a major source of several antioxidants, including carotenoids, ascorbic acid, tocopherols and phenolics. More information on genetic diversity within Capsicum for antioxidant (AO) content and antioxidant activity (AOA) could contribute to improved human health. We evaluated 46 Capsicum accessions from AVRDC-the World Vegetable Center Capsicum core collection for content of nine AO (five carotenoids, ascorbic acid, tocopherols a and g, and total phenolics) and two AOA assays for 2 years in south Taiwan. Ample genetic diversity exists within C. annuum to increase AO content. Based on dry weight values, non-pungent C. annuum entries as a group were significantly greater than pungent entries for contents of b-cryptoxanthin (36%), ascorbic acid (65%), total phenolics (36%) and a-tocopherol (11%). Group means of the brown-fruited entries exceeded the means of red-fruited entries for capsanthin (34%), zeaxanthin (37%), lutein (36%), b-cryptoxanthin (71%), b-carotene (82%), ascorbic acid (19%) and a-tocopherol (40%). Red-fruited C. annuum entries 'Verdano Poblano' and 'Guajillo Ancho' from Mexico ranked among the entries highest for all carotenoids, ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol. The inhibition of lipid peroxidation (ILP) assay could be adopted for AOA characterization or selection because of high variation among entries and consistent entry performance over years. ILP was positively correlated with phenolics (r ¼ 0.72**) and ascorbic acid (r ¼ 0.58**) contents. Significant positive correlations were detected between most carotenoids as well as a significant positive correlation between ascorbic acid and total phenolics contents (r ¼ 0.78**).

Diversity in eggplant (Solanum melongena) for superoxide scavenging activity, total phenolics, and ascorbic acid

“…Total phenolics content was positively correlated with both SOS m (r ¼ 0.44**) and SOS w (r ¼ 0.43**). This result was expected given the strong association between high antioxidant activity and phenolics content previously shown for eggplant (Sudheesh et al, 1999;Kaneyuki et al, 1999;Noda et al, 2000;Huang et al, 2004) as well as other crops such as blueberry (Connor et al, 2002), tomato (Hanson et al, 2004a) and pepper (Hanson et al, 2004b). Eggplant genotypes are highly diverse both in the number of phenolic compounds as well as the proportions of phenolic compounds contained in individual accessions (Stommel and Whitaker, 2003).…”

Variation for bioactive compounds in ají (Capsicum baccatum L.) and rocoto (C. pubescens R. & P.) and implications for breeding

“…However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies related to the diversity and other genetic parameters of interest for the breeding of the nutritional value of both C. baccatum and C. pubescens, with just a few reports on the composition of a reduced number of C. baccatum accessions (Wall et al 2001;Hanson et al 2004). Probably, their relatively low relevance outside the Andean region until recent dates is the main reason for such lack of research.…”

Distribution of 127 edible plant species for antioxidant activities by two assays

“…However, the AOA of a given species may vary depending upon the AOA method and extraction solvent used. Variation in AOA within species can also be great, ranging from one-to more than tenfold, depending upon genotypes, 14,15 sampling times and locations. 16 Largescale evaluation of vegetables for AOA using the same methodologies in the same laboratory would permit direct comparison of species to reduce confusion.…”