Some Aspects of Nutritive and Biological Value of Carrot Cultivars with Orange, Yellow and Purple-Coloured RootsThe aim of this work was to determine antioxidant activity and some physical and chemical parameters influencing nutritive and biological value of orange, purple and yellow carrot cultivars. The two-year experiment was carried out in Warsaw Agricultural University in 2005 and 2006. Carrot was grown in the experimental field of the University. Six carrot cultivars, differed in storage roots colour and shape, were chosen for the experiment: 'Florida' F1, 'Interceptor' F1, 'Nebula' F1, 'Purple Haze' F1, 'Yellowstone', 'Mello Yello' F1. Immediately after harvest of carrots there were determined: dry matter, total sugars content, total phenolics, total carotenoids, antioxidant activity (DPPH), fractions of dietary fibre, pectines, pH, redox potential, electrical resistance. P-value, which is a combined parameter of some physical and chemical traits, was also calculated. Correlations between some of these quality parameters were determined. Dry mater content was the highest for 'Purple Haze' in 2005, but in 2006 for 'Nebula' similar dry matter content was found. Total sugars content in carrots in 2005 was the highest in 'Purple Haze' but in 2006 'Florida' showed higher sugars content. Total phenolics content was the highest in 'Purple Haze' roots. Total carotenoids content was greatly differentiated between cultivars and varied from below 1 mg·100 g-1to above 14 mg·100 g-1. For cultivars of yellow storage roots the lowest level of carotenoids were found, and the highest for orange-coloured 'Florida', 'Interceptor' and 'Purple Haze'. In all cultivars, from fractions of total fibre, the highest amount was found in the case of cellulose and pectines. The highest antioxidant activity showed purple-coloured cultivar 'Purple Haze', and the lowest activity yellow-coloured cultivars 'Yellowstone' and 'Mello Yello'. Regression analysis showed that antioxidant activity of carrot storage roots was strictly related to carotenoids content (r=0.92) and phenolics content (r=0.87).

The aim of this study was to determine the level of antioxidants in the seeds of wheat, lentil, pea, radish, broccoli, alfalfa, sunflower and amaranth germinated for 24, 72 and 120 hours. Following germination, the highest increases in the total phenols corresponded to 5.39, 4.62 and 2.20 times in broccoli, radish and alfalfa seeds respectively. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was higher after germination for 120 hours in all the seed types as compared with the non-germinated seeds. In radish, sunflower and alfalfa seeds, the ability to scavenge ABTS increased by 5.19, 1.34 and 2.90 times respectively, after germination. According to the different changes in the amounts of tocopherol isomers in germinating seeds can be summarized, that the α-tocopherol content increased and that of β-, γ-, δ-tocopherol decreased irrespective of the species, therefore suitable for germination time and seeds variety allows having products with a high nutritional and antioxidant properties. Efectos del tiempo de germinación en las propiedades antioxidantes de semillas comestibles RESUMEN El presente estudio se propuso determinar el nivel de antioxidantes existente en semillas de trigo, lenteja, guisante [arveja], rábano, brócoli, alfalfa, girasol y amaranto que germinaron durante 24, 72 y 120 horas. Después de su germinación, se comprobó que los mayores aumentos en fenoles totales se registraron en semillas de brócoli, rábano y alfalfa, siendo de 5.39, 4.62 y 2.20 veces más, respectivamente. En comparación con las semillas no germinadas, la eliminación del radical 1,1-difenilpicrilhidrazil (DPPH) fue más activa en todos los tipos de semillas tras su germinación durante 120 horas. Una vez germinadas, las semillas de rábano, girasol y alfalfa incrementaron su capacidad de eliminar el compuesto ABTS en 5.19, 1.34 y 2.90 veces, respectivamente. En términos de los distintos cambios en las cantidades de isómeros de tocoferol en las semillas germinadas, puede resumirse que el contenido de α-tocoferol aumentó, mientras que los de β-, γy δ-tocoferol disminuyeron sin importar la especie. Por lo tanto, si se toma en cuenta el tiempo de germinación y la variedad de semillas es posible elaborar productos con abundantes propiedades nutricionales y antioxidantes.

Changes of Physical and Chemical Traits of Roots of Different Carrot Cultivars Under Cold Store Conditions The objective of this three-year study, performed in 2006-2008, was to determine the influence of long-term cold storage on some physical and chemical parameters influencing nutritive and biological value of carrots of different storage root colours and shapes. Eight carrot cultivars were chosen for the experiment: Perfekcja, Interceptor F1, Vita Longa, Nebula F1, Purple Haze F1, Deep Purple F1, Mello Yello F1 and White Satin F1. Quality parameters of the carrots, including CIE L*a*b* colour parameters of the whole roots and juice, root firmness (with HPE firmness tester), dry matter, soluble solids, sugars, total phenolics, total carotenoid, antioxidant activity of the whole roots and juice (with DPPH method), were determined directly after harvest and after 6-month storage of the roots at 0-1°C and 97% RH. The results showed significant influence of the storage on most of the quality traits of the roots, particularly colour, firmness, soluble solids and phenolics content. These changes were also related to the cultivars. Storage of the carrot roots caused a decrease in their firmness. Soluble solids and sugars content showed a tendency to increase during the storage period. Storage of the carrots resulted in decreasing nitrates content and increasing phenolics and carotenoid compounds content in the roots. Antioxidant activity of carrot juice showed small increasing tendency resulting from the storage of the roots, but antioxidant activity of the roots decreased.

The high content of carotenoids, sugars, dry matter, vitamins and minerals makes the fruit of winter squash (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) a valuable fresh-market vegetable and an interesting material for the food industry. Due to their nutritional value, long shelf-life and health protective properties, winter squash fruits have gained increased interest from researchers in recent years. Despite these advantages, the genetic and genomic resources available for C. maxima are still limited. The aim of this study was to use the genetic mapping approach to map the ovary colour locus and to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for high carotenoid content and flesh colour. An F6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population was developed and used for evaluations of ovary colour, carotenoid content and fruit flesh colour. SSR markers and DArTseq genotyping-by-sequencing were used to construct an advanced genetic map that consisted of 1824 molecular markers distributed across linkage groups corresponding to 20 chromosomes of C. maxima. Total map length was 2208 cM and the average distance between markers was 1.21 cM. The locus affecting ovary colour was mapped at the end of chromosome 14. The identified QTLs for carotenoid content in the fruit and fruit flesh colour shared locations on chromosomes 2, 4 and 14. QTLs on chromosomes 2 and 4 were the most meaningful. A correlation was clearly confirmed between fruit flesh colour as described by the chroma value and carotenoid content in the fruit. A high-density genetic map of C. maxima with mapped loci for important fruit quality traits is a valuable resource for winter squash improvement programmes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11032-018-0869-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.