Analysis of petal anthocyanins to investigate flower coloration ofZhongyuan (Chinese) and Daikon Island (Japanese) tree peony cultivars

摘要

A comparative study was conducted on Zhongyuan (130, Chinese) and Daikon Island (37, Japanese) tree peony cultivars to analyze anthocyanin constitutions in the petals in relation to flower colors. The distribution of flower hues displayed by loci of colors on a CIELAB (International Commission on Illumination) diagram was found to be similar between cultivars of the two areas. However, the flower colors of a traditional classification did not correspond with the CIELAB hues. An identification by chemical structure of three anthocyanidins in the petals (pelargonidin, Pg; cyanidin, Cy and peonidin, Pn) classified the cultivars into four fewer groups, i.e. Pn, Pg; Pn, Pg> Cy; Pn, Cy and Pn, Cy>Pg groups Each group consequently specified significant features among CIELAB color notation and petal pigmentation, being adequate to characterize tree peony flowers as similar between Zhongyuan and Daikon Island cultivars, thus the cultivars of the two areas are suggested to be related to one another.