Carotenoid content of 50 watermelon cultivars.
The lycopene content of 50 commercial cultivars of seeded and seedless red-fleshed watermelons was determined. Scanning colorimetric and spectrophotometric assays of total lycopene were used to separate watermelon cultivars into low (<50 mg/kg fw), average (50-70 mg/kg fw), high (70-90 mg/kg fw), and very high (>90 mg/kg fw). Cultivars varied greatly in lycopene content, ranging from 33 to 100 mg/kg. Most of the seeded hybrid cultivars had average lycopene contents. Sixteen of the 33 seedless types had lycopene contents in the high and very high ranges. All-trans-lycopene was the predominant carotenoid (84-97%) in all watermelon cultivars measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, but the germplasm differed in the relative amounts of cis-lycopene, beta-carotene, and phytofluene. Red-fleshed watermelon genotypes vary extensively in carotenoid content and offer opportunities for developing watermelons with specifically enhanced carotenoids.
South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Lane, Oklahoma, USA. pperkins-usda@lane-ag.org
Penelope
P
Perkins-Veazie
Julie K
JK
Collins
Angela R
AR
Davis
Warren
W
Roberts
D002338:Carotenoids / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D029773:Citrullus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D003124:Colorimetry; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D005838:Genotype; D000077276:Lycopene; D013045:Species Specificity; D013053:Spectrophotometry
D002338:Carotenoids; C003140:phytofluene; D000077276:Lycopene