Variability of carotenoid biosynthesis in orange colored Capsicum spp.

Abstract

Pepper, Capsicum spp., is a worldwide crop valued for heat, nutrition, and rich pigment content. Carotenoids, the largest group of plant pigments, function as antioxidants and as vitamin A precursors. The most abundant carotenoids in ripe pepper fruits are β-carotene, capsanthin, and capsorubin. In this study, the carotenoid composition of orange fruited Capsicum lines was defined along with the allelic variability of the biosynthetic enzymes. The carotenoid chemical profiles present in seven orange pepper varieties were determined using a novel UPLC method. The orange appearance of the fruit was due either to the accumulation of β-carotene, or in two cases, due to only the accumulation of red and yellow carotenoids. Four carotenoid biosynthetic genes, Psy, Lcyb, CrtZ-2, and Ccs were cloned and sequenced from these cultivars. This data tested the hypothesis that different alleles for specific carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes are associated with specific carotenoid profiles in orange peppers. While the coding regions within Psy and CrtZ-2 did not change in any of the lines, the genomic sequence contained introns not previously reported. Lcyb and Ccs contained no introns but did exhibit polymorphisms resulting in amino acid changes; a new Ccs variant was found. When selectively breeding for high provitamin A levels, phenotypic recurrent selection based on fruit color is not sufficient, carotenoid chemical composition should also be conducted. Based on these results, specific alleles are candidate molecular markers for selection of orange pepper lines with high β-carotene and therefore high pro-vitamin A levels.

Bioactive compounds and some vitamins from varieties of pepper (Capsicum) grown in CÔTE D’IVOIRE

“…Marin et al [31] reported a high pro-vitamin A content in the mature stage of peppers. Recently, Guzman et al [11] indicated that orange or yellow color in Capsicum fruit can have very low amounts of the β-carotene level. The level of β-carotene in pepper depends upon various factors: the level of expression of the genes governing carotenogenesis, physiological and morphological characteristics intrinsic to the cultivar, and probably growth conditions [31].…”

“…Ha et al [32] observed that beta carotene content in the Capsicum cultivars ranged from 100 to 1300 µg 100g -1 fresh weight. Guzman et al [11] indicated that β-carotene contents could range from 100 µg to 6000 µg 100 g -1 dry weigh. The more recently devised Dietary Reference Intake (DRI), [33] values for vitamin A, established by the Food and Nutrition board of the Institute of Medicine are, 900 and 700 µg RAE/day for adult (ages 19-50 years) males and females, respectively (IOM) [33].…”

“…The beta carotene from the sample was extracted according to the method described by [11,17]. 20 mL of 99.8% ethanol and 5 ml of 100% (w/v) potassium hydroxide were homogenised for 5 min using a blender, then added in 5g of each variety of pepper fruits.…”

“…Household cooking can cause either decreases or increases in the content of capsaicinoids and phenolic compounds in peppers [10]. In addition to flavoring food, few authors reported an increase of ascorbic acid and carotenoids content of [11]. Thus, they are represented as being retinol equivalent (RE).…”

Assessing the Role of Invasive Species in Successional Plant Communities Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

“…This may be because anthocyanin content and carotenoid content are highly influenced by genetics (Ficco et al, 2014;Fournier-Level et al, 2009;Guzman et al, 2010;Nicolle et al, 2004) while chlorophyll content is influenced by both genetics and environmental conditions and stressors (Cao, 2000;Malyshev et al, 2016).…”