Mutation increasing β-carotene concentrations does not adversely affect concentrations of essential mineral elements in pepper fruit

Nasya B. Tomlekova (Lead / Corresponding author), Philip J. White, Jacqueline A. Thompson, Emil A. Penchev, Stephan Nielen

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are prevalent in human populations throughout the world. Vitamin A deficiency affects hundreds of millions of pre-school age children in low income countries. Fruits of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) can be a major dietary source of precursors to Vitamin A biosynthesis, such as β-carotene. Recently, pepper breeding programs have introduced the orange-fruited (of) trait of the mutant variety Oranzheva kapiya, which is associated with high fruit β-carotene concentrations, to the mutant variety Albena. In this manuscript, concentrations of β-carotene and mineral elements (magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, potassium, zinc, calcium, manganese, iron and copper) were compared in fruit from P31, a red-fruited genotype derived from the variety Albena, and M38, a genotype developed by transferring the orange-fruited mutation (of) into Albena. It was observed that fruit from M38 plants had greater β-carotene concentration at both commercial and botanical maturity (4.9 and 52.7 mg / kg fresh weight, respectively) than fruit from P31 plants (2.3 and 30.1 mg / kg fresh weight, respectively). The mutation producing high β-carotene concentrations in pepper fruits had no detrimental effect on the concentrations of mineral elements required for human nutrition.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere0172180
    Pages (from-to)1-9
    Number of pages9
    JournalPLoS ONE
    Volume12
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 16 Feb 2017

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