Seth Romit, Fiecke Chelsey, Ma Guoying, Perkins-Veazie Penelope, Cavagnaro Pablo, Ferruzzi Mario G, Iorizzo Massimo
Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States.
Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center and Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72202, United States.
Food Chem X. 2025 Jul 18;29:102807. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102807. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Purple carrot is an important source of anthocyanins as a natural food dye, yet research advancements in selecting purple cultivars with improved anthocyanin extractable yield and stability remain limited. This study used a large set of purple carrot accessions to characterize anthocyanins, phenolics, and flavonoids, their relationship to tissue-specific accumulation, extraction efficiency, color density, and color stability. A Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy method was also developed to evaluate these metabolites. Fully purple roots showed the highest anthocyanin content and extraction efficiency. Non-acylated anthocyanin Cy3XG was identified as a limiting step in the biosynthesis of stable acylated anthocyanins The sinapoyl-containing glycoside Cy3XSGG was the primary contributor to color density. Ten FT-NIR prediction models were developed to evaluate anthocyanins, chlorogenic, and caffeic acids. These findings support the selection of purple carrot with stable and uniform anthocyanin production and perform quality control in the natural colorant industry.
紫胡萝卜作为天然食用色素，是花青素的重要来源，但在选育花青素可提取产量和稳定性更高的紫色品种方面，研究进展仍然有限。本研究使用了大量紫胡萝卜种质资源来表征花青素、酚类和黄酮类化合物，以及它们与组织特异性积累、提取效率、颜色密度和颜色稳定性的关系。还开发了一种傅里叶变换近红外（FT-NIR）光谱法来评估这些代谢物。全紫根的花青素含量和提取效率最高。非酰化花青素Cy3XG被确定为稳定酰化花青素生物合成中的一个限制步骤。含芥子酰的糖苷Cy3XSGG是颜色密度的主要贡献者。开发了10个FT-NIR预测模型来评估花青素、绿原酸和咖啡酸。这些发现有助于筛选出花青素产量稳定且均匀的紫胡萝卜品种，并在天然色素行业中进行质量控制。
