Phytochemicals and antioxidants in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) genotypes under hot arid region

B R CHOUDHARY; S M HALDHAR; S K MAHESHWARI; R BHARGAVA; S K SHARMA

doi:10.56093/ijas.v85i3.47179

Authors

B R CHOUDHARY ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 006
S M HALDHAR ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 006
S K MAHESHWARI ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 006
R BHARGAVA ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 006
S K SHARMA ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 006

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v85i3.47179

Keywords:

Antioxidants, Antioxidant activity, Watermelon

Abstract

Ten genotypes of red-fleshed watermelon [Citrullus lantus (Thunb.)] were estimated for various health promoting bioactive compounds. The evaluated genotypes showed wide variability in total phenols, total flavonoids, tannin, total carotenoids and lycopene contents. The antioxidant activity was estimated by using in vitro assay of cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC). The significant difference (P=0.05) was observed among evaluated watermelon genotypes for different phytochemicals and antioxidants. The total phenols varied from 16.77 to 21.41 mg/g, total flavoniods 55.60 to 100.93 mg/100g and tannin content 35.07 to 60.83 mg/100g on dry weight basis. Total carotenoids and lycopene ranged from 4.90 to 8.06 mg/100g and 3.74 to 6.80 mg/100g, respectively on fresh weight basis. The average antioxidant activity was found to be varied from 40.13 to 84.05 Î¼mol TE/100g fresh weight. The results indicate that red-fleshed genotypes of watermelon are good source of antioxidants and showed significant variability for different phytochemicals and antioxidants that could be exploited to develop new cultivars/hybrids of superior quality for nutritional security.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Apak R, Guclu K, Demirata B, Ozyurek M, Celik S E, Bektasoglu B, Berker K I and Ozyurt D. 2007. Comparative evaluation of various total antioxidant capacity assays applied to phenolic compounds with the CUPRAC assay. Molecules 12: 496–547. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/12071496

Choo W S and Sin W Y. 2012. Ascorbic acid, lycopene and antioxidant activity of red-fleshed and yellow-fleshed watermelons. Advances in Applied Science Research 3(5): 2 779–84.

Choudhary B R, Pandey S and Singh P K. 2012. Morphological diversity analysis among watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb)] genotypes. Progressive Horticulture 44(2): 321–6.

Ebrahimzadeh M A, Pourmorad F and Bekhradnia A R. 2008. Iron chelating activity screening, phenol and flavonoid content of some medicinal plants from Iran. African Journal of Biotechnology 32: 43–9.

Edwards A J, Vinyard B T, Wiley E R, Brown E D, Collins J K, Perkins-Veazie P, Baker R A and Clevidence B A. 2003. Consumption of watermelon juice increases plasma concentrations of lycopene and beta-carotene in humans. Journal of Nutrition 133: 1 043–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.4.1043

Kang B, Zhao W, Hou Y and Tian P. 2010. Expression of carotenogenic genes during development and ripening of watermelon fruit. Scientia Horticulturae 124: 368–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2010.01.027

Malik C P and Singh M B. 1980. Plant Enzymology and Histo- enzymology. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi.

Nagal S, Kaur C, Choudhary H, Singh J, Singh B B and Singh K N. 2012. Lycopene content, antioxidant capacity and colour attributes of selected watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)] cultivars grown in India. International Journal of Food Science and Nurtition. DOI: 10.3109/09637486.2012.694848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/09637486.2012.694848

Pantelidis G E, Vasilakakis M, Manganaris G A and Diamantidis G. 2007. Antioxidant capacity, phenol, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid contents in raspberries, blackberries, red currants, gooseberries and cornelian cherries. Food Chemistry 102: 777– 83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.06.021

Perera C O and Yen G M. 2007. Functional properties of carotenoids in human health. International Journal of Food Properties 10: 201–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10942910601045271

Perkins-Veazie P. 2007. Carotenoids in watermelon and mango. Acta Horticulturae 746: 259–64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2007.746.28

Perkins-Veazie P, Collins J K, Pair S D and Roberts W. 2001. Lycopene content differs among red-fleshed watermelon cultivars. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 81: 983–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.880

Ranganna S. 1986. Manual for Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Products, pp 83–104. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. Schanderl S H. 1970. Methods in Food Analysis. Academic Press, New York.

Tadmor Y, King S, Levi A, Davis A, Meir A, Wasserman B, Hirschberg J and Lewinsohn E. 2005. Comparative fruit colouration in watermelon and tomato. Food Research International 38: 837–41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2004.07.011

Tlili I, Hdider C, Lenucci M S, Riadh I, Jebari H and Dalessandro G. 2011. Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activities of different watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)] cultivars as affected by fruit sampling area. Journal Food Composition and Analysis 24(3): 307–14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2010.06.005

Zhao W, Lv P and Gu H. 2013. Studies on carotenoids in watermelon flesh. Agricultural Science 4(7A): 13–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2013.47A003