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.
Perkins-Veazie
Penelope
P
South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Lane, Oklahoma, USA. pperkins-usda@lane-ag.org
Collins
Julie K
JK
Davis
Angela R
AR
Roberts
Warren
W
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