ISHS Acta Horticulturae 744: I International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables
STRATEGY FOR BREEDING FRUITS WITH HIGHER CONTENT IN BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS |
| Authors: | S. Khanizadeh, B. Ehsani-Moghaddam, R. Tsao, Y. Desjardins, A. Gosselin |
| Keywords: | strawberry, total phenolic content, antioxidant, TEAC, FRAP, phenolic composition, shelf life, breeding and disease resistance |
| Abstract:
For the past few years, growing interest has been devoted to the phytochemical content of fruits and specific attention has been given to the antioxidant capacity. Studies showed that antioxidant activity of fruits was correlated with total phenolic content rather than with any individual phenolic compound and in some fruits like strawberries ellagic acid along with some flavonoids (anthocyanins, proanthocyanins, catechin and epicatechin) are the main compounds. These compounds are known to influence quality, acceptability and stability of foods by acting as flavorants, colorants or antioxidants. Antioxidant composition of fruits varies among cultivars and genetics play a major role. Furthermore, the phytochemical content of the fruits not only increases the quality of the fruit but also has a major impact on shelf life and susceptibility to diseases. In the last several years the objective of the AAFC fruit breeding program re-directed toward selection of genotypes rich in antioxidant phenolic compounds in order to select those individuals that not only have a good shelf life but also resistance to disease. During the past several years, new selected apple and strawberry lines were significantly different from the reference variety in antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compound. These lines not only show a resistance to disease with good shelf life but also stimulate greater interest in the nutraceutical aspects of these fruits, as well as in the processing. Some of these advanced lines will be presented and discussed. | |
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