Genetic variation of carotenoids in Chinese bread wheat cultivars and the effect of the 1BL.1RS translocation

Abstract

Carotenoid content of wheat is an important criterion for prediction of the commercial and nutritional value of products made from bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars. The objective of this study was to determine the major components of carotenoids in Chinese wheat using ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) including lutein, zeaxanthin, α-carotene and β-carotene. Grain carotenoid content was investigated in 217 cultivars from three major Chinese wheat regions and from seven other countries grown in two environments. Genotype contributed to the majority of variation in carotenoid components. Lutein, zeaxanthin and β-carotene concentrations varied from 18.3 to 100.1, 4.9 to 12.0 and 0.9 to 48.7 μg per 100 g in wheat flour with an average of 40.2, 7.2 and 18.2 μg per 100 g, respectively. Lutein (61.3%) was the main carotenoid component, followed by β-carotene (27.7%) and zeaxanthin (11.0%). No α-carotene was detected. Total carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and β-carotene were all higher in cultivars with the 1BL.1RS translocation compared to those without the translocation. This is the first report on assay of lutein, zeaxanthin and β-carotene concentrations for a large number of wheat cultivars. These data will be useful for genetic improvement of wheat carotenoid content and for understanding of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in wheat.

Keywords

Triticum aestivum / carotenoids / nutritional quality / UPLC

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof. Robert McIntosh, University of Sydney, Dr Mingli Wang, USDA-ARS, and Dr Yuanfeng Hao for reviewing this manuscript. Prof. Guixing Ren and Ms Fang Liu, from CAAS, also gave us assistance in this study. This study was supported by the International Collaboration Projects from Ministry of Science and Technology (2013DFG30530, 2014DFG31690).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Wenshuang Li, Shengnan Zhai, Hui Jin, Weie Wen, Jindong Liu, Xianchun Xia, and Zhonghu He declare that they have no conflict of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg