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The Lack of a Relationship between Bitterness and Resistance of Cucurbits to Red Pumpkin Beetle ( Aulacophora foveicollis )
Author(s) -
Dhillon N. P. S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
plant breeding
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1439-0523
pISSN - 0179-9541
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0523.1993.tb00570.x
Subject(s) - biology , bitter gourd , squash , cucurbita pepo , cucurbitaceae , botany , cotyledon , bitter taste , horticulture , phenols , food science , traditional medicine , taste , momordica , biochemistry , medicine
Purified cucurbitacin B and E act as feeding stimulants for the red pumpkin beetle, but on testing three pairs of isogenic bitter (Bi) and non‐bitter (bi) lines of cucumber, no relationship was found to exist between the bitter gene and the degree of damage caused by this beetle. In summer squash, both resistant and susceptible lines contain cucurbitacin at the susceptible plant growth stage (cotyledon) but there was no correlation between the quantity of total phenols, free amino acids or reducing sugars in this material and resistance. Bitter gourd, which has cucurbitacin in the cotyledons, was not preferred by the beetle.