Carotenoid Content of 50 Watermelon Cultivars

摘要

The lycopene content of 50 commercial cultivars of seeded and seedless red-fleshed watermelons was determined.Scanning colorimetric and spectrophotometric assays of total lycopene were used to separate watermelon cultivars into low(<50 mg/kg fw),average(50-70 mg/kg fw),high(70-90 mg/kg fw),and very high(>90 mg/kg fw).Cultivars varied greatly in lycopene content,ranging from 33 to 100 mg/kg.Most of the seeded hybrid cultivars had average lycopene contents.Sixteen of the 33 seedless types had lycopene contents in the high and very high ranges.All-trans-lycopene was the predominant carotenoid(84-97%)in all watermelon cultivars measured by high-performance liquid chromatography,but the germplasm differed in the relative amounts of cis-lycopene,beta-carotene,and phytofluene.Red-fleshed watermelon genotypes vary extensively in carotenoid content and offer opportunities for developing watermelons with specifically enhanced carotenoids.