15C-2 |
Carotenoids of the Amaranth Species |
M. F. MARCONE, H. R. Aliee, F. Jahaniaval, and Y. Kakuda. Department of Food Science, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G-2W1, Canada Carotenoids have drawn considerable interest and been the subject of numerous investigations. Studies have shown that carotenoids can exert protective effects against cardiovascular and eye diseases, as well as skin and stomach cancer. In addition, to the potential use of carotenoids in nutraceutical type products for the treatment of the above diseases there is presently a growing world interest and market expansion for the use of natural colourants in various goods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The objective was to identify the actual type and quantities of carotenoids in amaranth leafy greens and to determine if these carotenoids varied between amaranth varieties. Leaf tissue of thirteen different varieties of amaranth of both domesticated and wild origins were extracted and carotenoid contents determined by HPLC using C18 chromatography. Lutein was found to be the predominant carotenoid in leaf tissue followed by b-carotene, then b-cryptoxanthin followed by a-carotene and then lycopene. All amaranth species could be considered good sources (>1000 mg/100g) of both lutein as well as b-carotene. Species to species differences accounted for the greatest variability found in lutein content (of all the carotenoids measured) ranging from 1522 mg to as high as 9933 mg/100g i.e., 6.5 fold difference. Of the wild amaranth species tested possessing desirable agronomic traits A. quitersis with pest/viral/bacterial resistance and A. powellii with drought resistance showed high levels of leaf tissue lutein. Unlike lutein much less species to species difference was observed in the total content of b-carotene ranging from 2199 to 6826 mg/100g of leaf material. A. powellii with a high b-carotene content and with good drought resistance may one day serve as a good candidate for use in the amelioration of cultivated amaranth varieties. In summary, there appears to be a good genetic pool of wild species within the Amaranthus family to serve as potential breeding stock for plant breeders to develop amaranth varieties with enhanced agronomic properties together with high levels of valuable carotenoids for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical market.
Session 15C, Food Chemistry: Food composition and analysis
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