Accumulation of Carotenoids and Metabolic Profiling in Different Cultivars of Tagetes Flowers

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 22; no. 2; p. 313
• Main Authors: Park, Yun Ji, Park, Soo-Yun, Valan Arasu, Mariadhas, Al-Dhabi, Naif Abdullah, Ahn, Hyung-Geun, Kim, Jae Kwang, Park, Sang Un
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 18-02-2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Asteraceae; Biosynthetic Pathways; Carotene; carotenoid; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - biosynthesis; Carotenoids - chemistry; Chromatography, Gas; Citric acid; Cultivars; Discriminant analysis; Flowers; Flowers - chemistry; Flowers - metabolism; Galactose; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; GC-TOFMS; Glycine; Lutein; marigold; metabolic profiling; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metabolomics - methods; Principal components analysis; Tagetes; Tagetes - chemistry; Tagetes - metabolism; Tricarboxylic acid cycle; Valine; Violaxanthin; Xylose; Zeaxanthin; β-Carotene; GC-TOFMS; Tagetes; carotenoid; metabolic profiling; marigold
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules22020313

Species of
, which belong to the family Asteraceae show different characteristics including, bloom size, shape, and color; plant size; and leaf shape. In this study, we determined the differences in primary metabolites and carotenoid yields among six cultivars from two
species,
and
. In total, we detected seven carotenoids in the examined cultivars: violaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, α-carotene, β-carotene, 9-
-β-carotene, and 13-
-β-carotene. In all the cultivars, lutein was the most abundant carotenoid. Furthermore, the contents of each carotenoid in flowers varied depending on the cultivar. Principal component analysis (PCA) facilitated metabolic discrimination between
cultivars, with the exception of Inca Yellow and Discovery Orange. Moreover, PCA and orthogonal projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) results provided a clear discrimination between
and
. Primary metabolites, including xylose, citric acid, valine, glycine, and galactose were the main components facilitating separation of the species. Positive relationships were apparent between carbon-rich metabolites, including those of the TCA cycle and sugar metabolism, and carotenoids.