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Lycopene content differs among red‐fleshed watermelon cultivars
Author(s) -
PerkinsVeazie Penelope,
Collins Julie K,
Pair Sam D,
Roberts Warren
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.880
Subject(s) - lycopene , cultivar , citrullus lanatus , carotenoid , colorimeter , horticulture , food science , chemistry , botany , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
Abstract Lycopene, a carotenoid, has antioxidant properties that may reduce the incidence of certain cancers. Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Matsum & Nakai) is a natural source of lycopene, with a reported average content of 48.7 µg g −1 fresh weight based on samples taken from retail produce. This study demonstrated the variability of lycopene content in 11 red‐fleshed watermelon cultivars grown at one location, representing seedless, open‐pollinated and hybrid types, and in commercially shipped hybrid and seedless melons, representing seasonal production periods. Tristimulus colorimeter a* and chroma values were positively correlated with lycopene values, but linear or quadratic regressions of colorimeter data against lycopene values were not significant. Tristimulus colorimeter readings from cut melons were compared to amounts of lycopene extracted from the same melons. Lycopene content varied widely among cultivars, with four cultivars having mean values greater than 65.0 µg g −1 fresh weight. Seedless types sampled tended to have higher amounts of lycopene (>50.0 µg g −1 fresh weight) than seeded types. Watermelon lycopene content changed for some cultivars with production season. Published in 2001 for SCI by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd