Effect of cultivar, flesh colour, locality and year on carotenoid content in potato tubers

Abstract

In this study, twelve cultivars of potato with different flesh colour (yellow, purple and red) were cultivated in 2012 and 2013 in two trial localities in the Czech Republic and evaluated for the main individual carotenoids. The content of total carotenoids (TC) in analysed cultivars ranged in 1.1-12.2 mg/kg in dry matter (DM) and was influenced by genotype cultivar, locality and year. Cv. Agria (yellow flesh) reached 1.8 to 11.8 times higher levels of TC compared with cultivars of coloured flesh. Locality and year of higher average temperatures during the growing season produced higher TC contents in tubers. Genotype significantly influenced the content and composition of individual carotenoids. As in cv. Agria, violaxanthin (41%) and lutein (55-78%) dominated in all cultivars with coloured flesh. The relative content of β-carotene in cv. Agria represented 2% of TC, in cultivars with coloured flesh 5-12% TC.Keywords: Solanum tuberosum; tuberous crop; xanthophyll; biological antioxidant; variety of potato; weather condition Potatoes are a good source of carotenoids, which are lipophilic compounds synthesized in plastids from isoprenoids (Brown et al. 2008, Ezekiel et al. 2013. The main potato carotenoids are xanthophylls, which are not precursors of vitamin A, but are components on the human retina and prevent cells from damage caused by UV-light. Carotenoids are also effective as biological antioxidants and therefore are probably a key factor in reducing the incidence of many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cataract and macular degeneration (Burgos et al. 2012). Lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin and neoxanthin are the major carotenoids present in potatoes, while β-carotene is present only in trace amounts. The orange and yellow colour of the tuber flesh is mainly due to zeaxanthin and lutein, respectively. Potato cultivars with white flesh contain less carotenoids as compared to cultivars with yellow or orange flesh. Total carotenoids content was reported in the range of 50-350 µg/100 g of fresh matter (FM) and 800-2000 µg/100 g FM, respectively, in white-and yellow-fleshed potato cultivars (Brown et al. 2008).The concentration of carotenoids is affected by several factors such as genotype, agronomic factors, postharvest storage, cooking and processing conditions (Kotíková et al. 2007, Ezekiel et al. 2013, Hejtmánková et al. 2013) and environmental factors (Valcarcel et al. 2015). In recent years there has been a growing interest, especially among fans of a healthy diet, in cultivars with coloured flesh, which are an important source of anthocyanins, and thus popularity of these cultivars is spreading in the world fairly quickly (Lachman et al. 2012, Hamouz et al. 2014. However, data published on their carotenoid contents are absent. The aim of this study was to quantify the level of total and individual carotenoids and to determine the percentage of individual carotenoids in eleven 86 Vol. 62, 2016, No. 2: 86-91 Plant Soil Environ. (Table 1). In the Prague-Uhříněves location the ...

Carotenoids Variability of Potato Tubers in Relation to Genotype, Growing Location and Year

“…A higher proportion of lutein in white fleshed potatoes was observed by Haynes et al (2010). This was also found in cultivars in which tuber flesh color is determined by anthocyanin pigments (Hamouz et al 2016;Hejtmánková et al 2013). Brown et al (2008) found the lutein as a main carotenoid in potatoes.…”

“…The effects of environmental factors on the accumulation of carotenoids in potato tubers were rarely evaluated. Usually, authors of these studies found that carotenoids concentration depend on genotype and various environmental factors (Haynes et al 2010;Hejtmánková et al 2013;Hamouz et al 2016;Kotíková et al 2007;Othman 2009;Payyavula et al 2012;Reddivari et al 2007;Tatarowska et al 2014), but sometimes an influence of environment was not found (Brown et al 2008). In the presented study, the environmental effects were slightly higher (in the case of TC) or clearly lowered (in the case of lutein) as compared to the effect of genotype.…”

“…The concentration of total and individual carotenoids in potato tubers is affected by several factors such as genotype, agronomic factors, postharvest storage, cooking and processing conditions (Ezekiel et al 2013;Hamouz et al 2016;Hejtmánková et al 2013;Kotíková et al 2007;Valcarcel et al 2015).…”

Carbohydrate and bioactive compounds composition of starchy tropical fruits and tubers, in relation to pre and postharvest conditions: A review

“…In banana, a single assay suggests that mature‐green Cavendish banana exhibits a higher total phenolic content when harvested in the dry season rather than in the wet one (Bruno Bonnet et al., ). Moreover, in potato, total carotenoids increased by 10% in a warmer and drier year, as compared to a colder year (Hamouz, Pazderu, Lachman, Cepl, & Kotikova, ).…”

Carotenoids in potatoes - a short overview

“…The content of carotenoids is affected by cultivar and locality. Hamouz et al (2016) reported that the content of total carotenoids in analysed cultivars ranged in 1.10-12.2 mg/kg DW and was influenced by genotype cultivar, locality and year. Breithaupt and Bamedi (2002) suggested that the total concentration of carotenoids in potatoes could be used as a tool to differentiate between white-or yellow-fleshed cultivars.…”