Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Meyer, Rachel [1], Whitaker, Bruce [2], Litt, Amy [3].

Diversity of phenolic content in Asian eggplant landraces and near wild relatives.

Phenolic compounds in fruits and vegetables are a prominent focus in food chemistry due to their perceived health-beneficial properties and flavor. In eggplant (Solanum melongena ), a crop with diverse medicinal and culinary uses, considerable variation in phenolic content and composition has been observed among fruits of different varieties. Using a germplasm collection of over 200 Asian eggplant landraces and closely-related species (including the putative progenitors, S. incanum and S. undatum ), 80 genetically and ethnobotanically diverse accessions were chosen for evaluation of phenolic constituents. We used high performance liquid chromatography to generate profiles of hydroxycinnamic acid (HCA) derivatives, the most abundant class of phenolics in eggplant, for fruits representing each of these chosen accessions. Chemical assays are also being conducted to assess total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity (Folin-Ciocalteu assay and DPPH assay) of these fruits. Results show greatest variation in phenolic profiles between species, followed by variation among accessions collected from different geographical regions of Asia. Several accessions were found to possess substantial amounts of certain potentially health-beneficial HCA derivatives, and several profiles included relatively high concentrations of one or more unknown HCA conjugates. Results of these phytochemical analyses are being correlated with ethnobotanical attributes of accessions as well as the phylogeographic relationships among accessions. We aim to address how regional selection for different eggplant landraces may have contributed to variation in the biosynthesis and accumulation of potentially desirable phenolic compounds.

Broader Impacts:

Related Links:
Asian eggplant landraces and allied species

1 - City University of New York, Graduate Center / New York Botanical Gard, Biology, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA
2 - USDA Agricultural Research Service, Produce Quality and Safety, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Bldg 002 Barc-West, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA
3 - The New York Botanical Garden, 200th St and Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA

Keywords:
Solanum
AFLP
S. melongena
polyphenolic
medicinal plants
ITS
antioxidant
domestication.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 37
Location: 556B/Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Time: 2:15 PM
Number: 37006
Abstract ID:226