Green-Spinach, Red-Spinach, and Tree-Spinach (‘Three-Fold Spinach’ in Sri Lanka): An Insight into Phylogenetics and Consumer Preference

Abstract

Three types of spinach, green spinach (GS), red spinach (RS), and tree spinach (TS) are consumed in Sri Lanka. GS, RS, and TS are referred to as Basella alba, Basella rubra, and Talinum fruticosum respectively. However, some taxonomists categorize GS and RS under B. alba causing an ambiguity. Due to the poor sanitation, consumers prefer to purchase greenhouse-grown spinach over field grown material. However, the taste parameters of field grown and greenhouse-grown spinach have not been assessed. The objectives of the present study were to resolve the taxonomic ambiguity between GS and RS, identify the evolutionary relationship of TS to other two species and to assess the organoleptic preference on the dishes prepared using greenhouse and field-grown shoot-tops of three spinach. The genomic DNA extracted from GS, RS, and TS, PCR amplified and sequenced for the barcoding markers rbcL, ITS, matK-trnT and atpB-rbcL. The sequences obtained along with other reported related sequences were subjected to phylogenetic analysis. A sensory test was carried out using the shoot-tops of three species grown under greenhouse and field conditions. The taste panelists were asked to rank the dishes for preferred levels of color, aroma, texture, bitterness, and overall taste and the data were subjected to the association analysis. The rbcL and ITS markers separate GS and RS into two well -supported clades, B. alba and B. rubra respectively. The polymorphisms of atpB-rbcL and matK-trnT markers support the definition of two species. The monophyly of B. alba and B. rubra with T. fruticosum must be the reason for the same palate in dishes and designation of all three species under “spinach” in Sri Lanka. The taste panel data demonstrated that there is no specific fondness for greenhouse or field grown materials enabling the popularization of greenhouse-grown spinach to answer the safety concerns.

El Insight como estrategia de marca en las publicaciones científicas

“…En otro caso, en el estudio de Gayathree et al (2020), sobre la comprobación de preferencias de productos cultivados en invernadero o en el campo, después de un panel de degustación con platos cocidos, las personas participantes manifestaron que no le dan preferencia al aroma, sino a todo el proceso del cultivo. Por lo tanto, los brotes de espinaca cultivados en invernadero se pueden popularizar por cuestiones de seguridad y aumentar los niveles de demanda en ese mercado, en su próxima estrategia de marca.…”

Combining Ability and Performance Evaluation of Vegetative and Reproductive Traits of Hybrids of Basella alba var alba and Basella alba var rubra Morphotypes from Southwestern Nigeria

“…From literatures, the green-stemmed Basella alba possesses characteristics like bigger leaves and more leaves which might make it preferable to the red-stemmed Basella rubra. However, the red-stemmed is preferred by some consumers due to its delicious taste (Roy et al 2010;Gayathree et al 2020). From some markets preferences and reports, the colour of the leaves determine the choice of consumers for consumption and this affects the level of sweetness with the purple pigmented leaves reportedly having the sweetest leaves.…”