ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: New varieties of fruits and vegetables, with higher carotenoid levels, are being developed to improve the potential health benefits to consumers. To assist the development of a new variety of high zeaxanthin sweetcorn, an analytical screening method was developed, including chromameter measurement of hue angle and optimized extraction for HPLC, and applied to 385 lines of a breeding population and six commercial varieties. RESULTS: Saponification had no effect on carotenoid extraction. In the breeding population, carotenoid levels had a wide range with the highest levels of zeaxanthin being 11.9 mg kg(-1) fresh weight, which was at least six times greater than the tested commercial varieties. The regression of hue angle versus zeaxanthin was described by the equation, hue angle = 76.16 + 4.50 x exp(-0.24 x zeaxanthin) + 11.73 x exp(-0.24 x zeaxanthin), r(2) of 0.59. The top 6% of lines, with regards to zeaxanthin (zeaxanthin + beta-cryptoxanthin + beta-carotene) and total carotenoids, all had hue angles Subject(s)
Fruit/chemistry
, Plant Extracts/chemistry
, Xanthophylls/analysis
, Zea mays/chemistry
, Agriculture/methods
, Analysis of Variance
, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
, Commerce
, Cryptoxanthins
, Fruit/genetics
, Genotype
, Models, Biological
, Regression Analysis
, Saponins/metabolism
, Zea mays/genetics
, Zeaxanthins
, beta Carotene/analysis