Hornero-Méndez D, Gómez-Ladrón De Guevara R, Mínguez-Mosquera M I
Departamento de Biotecnología de Alimentos, Instituto de la Grasa (CSIC), Av. Padre García Tejero 4, 41012-Sevilla, Spain.
J Agric Food Chem. 2000 Sep;48(9):3857-64. doi: 10.1021/jf991020r.
Changes in the biosynthesis of individual carotenoid pigments have been investigated during fruit ripening of five cultivars of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.): Mana, Numex, Belrubi, Delfin, and Negral (a chlorophyll-retaining mutant when ripe). The study was carried out throughout the ripening process, and with special emphasis on the ripe stage, to discover possible differences between cultivars and to characterize these by their carotenoid pattern and content for selecting the best varieties for breeding programs. Ripening fruit of the five cultivars showed the typical and characteristic pattern of carotenoid biosynthesis for the Capsicum genus. In the five cultivars, lutein and neoxanthin, both characteristic chloroplast pigments, decreased in concentration with ripening and eventually disappeared. beta-Carotene, antheraxanthin, and violaxanthin increased in concentration, and other pigments were biosynthesized de novo: zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, capsanthin, capsorubin, capsanthin-5,6-epoxide, and cucurbitaxanthin A. A pool of zeaxanthin stands out of the rest of pigment during ripening, which reveals the importance of this pigment as a branching point in the carotenoid biosynthesis in Capsicum. Quantitatively, Negral cultivar showed the highest increase in total carotenoid content (48. 39-fold), followed by Mana and Delfin with 38.03- and 36.8-fold, respectively, and by Belrubi and Numex with 28.03- and 23.48-fold, respectively. In all the red varieties, there was an inverse relationship between total carotenoid content and the red to yellow isochromic pigment fraction ratio (R/Y) and the capsanthin-to-zeaxanthin ratio (Caps/Zeax). This seems to be related to the carotenogenic capacity of the cultivar, and thus selection and breeding should not only seek a higher total carotenoid content but also attempt to increase these ratios. In the present study, the cultivar Mana had the highest total carotenoid content (13 208 mg/kg dwt), but the lowest R/Y (1.25) and Caps/Zeax (3.38) ratios, which are therefore the parameters to improve. The cultivar Negral had a high carotenoid content (8797 mg/kg dwt) and high R/Y and Caps/Zeax ratios and could be used for transfer of these characters in direct crosses with the cultivar Mana. The cultivar Numex had the highest Caps/Zeax ratio (7.17) and is thus an ideal progenitor for this character.
在五个红辣椒（Capsicum annuum L.）品种：玛娜（Mana）、努美克斯（Numex）、贝尔鲁比（Belrubi）、德尔芬（Delfin）和内格拉尔（Negral，成熟时保留叶绿素的突变体）果实成熟过程中，研究了单个类胡萝卜素色素生物合成的变化。该研究贯穿整个成熟过程，特别关注成熟阶段，以发现品种间可能存在的差异，并通过其类胡萝卜素模式和含量对这些差异进行表征，从而为育种计划选择最佳品种。五个品种的成熟果实呈现出辣椒属典型且特征性的类胡萝卜素生物合成模式。在这五个品种中，叶黄素和新黄质这两种典型的叶绿体色素，其浓度随着成熟而降低，最终消失。β-胡萝卜素、花药黄质和紫黄质的浓度增加，并且还从头合成了其他色素：玉米黄质、β-隐黄质、辣椒红素、辣椒玉红素、辣椒红素-5,6-环氧化物和葫芦素A。在成熟过程中，玉米黄质的含量在其余色素中格外突出，这揭示了该色素作为辣椒类胡萝卜素生物合成中一个分支点的重要性。从数量上看，内格拉尔品种的总类胡萝卜素含量增加最多（48.39倍），其次是玛娜和德尔芬，分别为38.03倍和36.8倍，而贝尔鲁比和努美克斯分别为28.03倍和23.48倍。在所有红色品种中，总类胡萝卜素含量与红/黄等色素分数比（R/Y）以及辣椒红素与玉米黄质的比例（Caps/Zeax）之间呈负相关。这似乎与品种的类胡萝卜素生成能力有关，因此选择和育种不仅应追求更高的总类胡萝卜素含量，还应尝试提高这些比例。在本研究中，玛娜品种总类胡萝卜素含量最高（13208毫克/千克干重），但R/Y最低（1.25），Caps/Zeax比例最低（3.38），因此这些是需要改进的参数。内格拉尔品种类胡萝卜素含量高（8797毫克/千克干重），R/Y和Caps/Zeax比例高，可用于与玛娜品种直接杂交以转移这些性状。努美克斯品种的Caps/Zeax比例最高（7.17），因此是该性状的理想亲本。
