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Research Project: PROCESSING AND BIOTECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENT OF FOODS TO PREVENT OBESITY RELATED AND OTHER DEGENERATIVE DISEASES

Location: Processed Foods Research

Title: alpha-Solasinine and alpha-Solamargine Contents of Goboma (Solanum macrocarpon L.) and Scarlet (S. aethiopicum L.) Eggplants Determined by HPLC-MS with Selective-Ion-Monitoring

Authors
item Sanchez-Mata, Maria-Cortes -
item Yokoyama, Wallace
item Hong, Yun Jeong
item Prohens, Jaime -

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 25, 2010
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Eggplants can contain toxic glycoalkaloids like other members of the Solanaceous family including tomatoes and potatoes. Glycoalkaloids are not a problem in commercial varieties of the Solanaceous family since breeders are selective about species that contain harmful levels of glycoalkaloids. In order to increase the varieties of eggplants available to consumers, two new varieties of eggplants were evaluated for glycoalkaloids content. The scarlet eggplant S. aethiopicum L. was found to be safe for consumption but the glycoalkaloids content of the gboma eggplant (S. macrocarpon L.) was too high by Western standards.

Technical Abstract: The gboma (S. macrocarpon L.) and scarlet eggplants (S. aethiopicum L.) can be crossed with the common eggplant and represent a genetic resource of interest for improving several traits of common eggplant. This work is focused on the analysis of glycoalkaloid (GA) content on S. macrocarpon and S. aethiopicum eggplants. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry with selective-ion monitoring (SIM) was used to quantify GAs in S. macrocarpon and S. aethiopicum compared to common eggplant (S. melongena L.). Fruits of S. aethiopicum and S. melongena presented 0.58 – 4.56 mg/100 g of '-solamargine (SM) and 0.17 – 1 mg/100 g of '-solasonine (SS), on wet basis. On the other hand, S. macrocarpon fruits had much higher values, with 124 – 197 mg/100 g of SM and 16 – 23 mg/100 g of SS. However, the proportions of SM and SS were similar between fruits of S. melongena and S. macrocarpon (76 – 89 % of SM), while in S. aethiopicum fruit composition was more variable (48 – 89 % of SM). According to these results, S. macrocarpon fruits, with values of GAs 5 to 10 times higher than the value considered safe in foods, should not be considered suitable for human consumption; however, the analysed fruits of S. aethiopicum were similar to those of S. melongena (about 1/7 of values considered as toxic), and could be considered safe for consumption. Also, because of its very low levels of toxic GAs, they represent an alternative to wild species for being incorporated into eggplant breeding programmes in order to obtain new improved varieties of common eggplant.

   

 
Project Team
Yokoyama, Wallace - Wally
Kahlon, Talwinder
Pan, Zhongli - John
Wood, Delilah - De
McHugh, Tara
 
Publications
   Publications
 
Related National Programs
  Human Nutrition (107)
  Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products (306)
 
Patents
  Antioxidant As An Effective Lipid Lowering Drug
 
 
Last Modified: 05/23/2013
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