title: Melatonin content of pepper and tomato fruits: effects of cultivar and solar radiation.
abstract: We evaluated the effect of cultivar and solar radiation on the melatonin content of Capsicum annuum (pepper) and Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) fruits. The melatonin content of red pepper fruits ranged from 31 to 93ngg(-1) (dry weight). The melatonin content of tomato ranged from 7.5 to 250ngg(-1) (dry weight). We also studied the effect of ripeness on melatonin content and identified one group of pepper cultivars in which the melatonin content increased as the fruit ripened and another in which it decreased as the fruit ripened. Under shade conditions, the melatonin content in most of tomato cultivars tended to increase (up to 135%), whereas that of most pepper cultivars decreased (to 64%). Overall, the results also demonstrated that the melatonin content of the fruits was not related to carbon fluxes from leaves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Production and Protection, NEIKER-Basque Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia P. 812, E-48160 Derio, Spain. Electronic address: priga@neiker.net.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riga
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, P.O. Box 164, E-30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, P.O. Box 164, E-30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Libia Alejandra
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: García-Flores
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, P.O. Box 164, E-30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Gil-Izquierdo
mesh_terms: D002212:Capsicum / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008550:Melatonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008550:Melatonin
keywords: Capsicum annuum; N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine; Solanum lycopersicum; UHPLC-MS/MS