Betalain Content and Morphological Characteristics of Table Beet Accessions: Their Interplay with Abiotic Factors

Abstract

Table beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a source of the natural red-colored food dye (E162), highly demanded for the broad spectrum of its biological activity. The relevance of this study is dictated by the lack of knowledge about the dynamics of changes in the crop’s betalain content during the growing season, which impedes identifying the optimal timing of harvesting in order to obtain the dye. This paper presents the results of research into betacyanins (BC) and betaxanthins (BX), separately in the peel and flesh of roots, in 15 differently colored table beet accessions from the collection of the N.I. Vavilov Institute (VIR). There was no statistically significant accumulation of betalains in beets during the growing season. The pigment’s significant fluctuations associated with abiotic environmental factors were shown. The ratio of BC/BX in red-colored accessions was measured: 2.65 in the peel and 2.9 in the flesh. Strong positive relationships were found between BC and BX in the peel (r = 0.97) and flesh (r = 0.79) of red-colored biotypes, which stably persisted throughout the growing season. The beetroot peel was more sensitive to temperature changes, in contrast to the flesh. The negative effect of a temperature increase on betalains in red-colored beetroots intensified on the second or third day. The pigment composition of the flesh was less susceptible to the negative impact of increased temperatures, but reacted negatively to rainfall, becoming more expressed on the second or third day. A conclusion was made about the morphotype with high betalain content. Recommended cultivars are mid-ripening, with rounded and medium-sized roots, a large number of narrow leaf blades, and short and thin petioles.

Nitrogen Sources Take Roles on Different Growth Balance of Red Beet (Beta vulgaris)

“…Watari, Ikeura, Tsuge, & Motoki (2017) stated that the highest betacyanin was produced during seedling phase that might reach 37.2 mg/100 g FW, followed by a planting phase at 31.1 mg/100 g FW, and then tuber enlargement phase and the growth late vegetative phase at 24.5 mg/100g FW. This furtherly strengthens (Sokolova, Shvachko, Mikhailova, & Popov, 2022) findings that betacyanin biosynthesis in red beet was dynamic, changes during ontogenesis and depends on genetic, environmental and cultivation management factors.…”

“…Red beet betacyanin is the only source of betalain which is permitted as a food additive (Polturak & Aharoni, 2018) with code Natural Red 33 in USA or E162 in european countries (da Silva et al, 2019)the antioxidant power and health-promoting properties of this pigment have been disregarded, perhaps due to the difficulty in obtaining a stable chemical compound, which impairs its absorption and metabolism evaluation. Herein, betanin was purified by semi-preparative HPLC-LC/MS and identified by LC-ESI(+ and for its broad spectrum of biological activity (Sokolova, Shvachko, Mikhailova, & Popov, 2022).…”

“…The enlargement of the beet root may be caused by the expansion of the supernumerary cambium which allows it to enlarge and resemble a ball or cone shape (Goldman & Janick, 2021). Betacyanin biosynthesis in red beet is dynamic, changes during ontogenesis and depends on genetic and environmental factors (Sokolova, Shvachko, Mikhailova, & Popov, 2022). Laufer, Nielsen, Wilting, Koch, & Märländer (2016) summarized that for beet crops of the Beta genus, N is needed to form the canopy and grow taproot cells.…”

Identification of WRKY gene family members in amaranth based on a transcriptome database and functional analysis of AtrWRKY42-2 in betalain metabolism

“…Betalain accumulation could make the amaranth leaves red ( Barba-Espin et al., 2018 ; Fan et al., 2020 ), which is determined by environmental conditions and transcription factors ( Erika et al., 2018 ; Preczenhak et al., 2019 ; Guerrero-Rubio et al., 2020 ; Sakuta et al., 2021 ; Sokolova et al., 2022 ). Our previous studies have indicated that various environmental factors and hormones (GA 3 and 2,4-D) influence betalain biosynthesis ( Xiao et al., 2021 ).…”

Dispersed white roots in red beetroot influence the accuracy of root identification based on colours for intercropping studies

“…The occurrence also supported our hypothesis that white roots are a general characteristic of beetroot root systems at least at early growing stage (28 days), although the abundance of white roots did differ between cultivars. The root colour of beetroot is determined by the contents of betalain, whose biosynthesis has been proved to be a synthetic consequence of genetics and abiotic conditions [ 3 , 22 ]. Root colour has been used as an indicator of root age in many studies, where the root colour changes are linked to root senescence [ 18 ].…”