CAROTENOID-PIGMENTS AND BETA-CAROTENE IN PAPRIKA FRUITS (CAPSICUM SPP) WITH DIFFERENT GENOTYPES

Recent evidence for antitumor activity of carotenoids in humans has re vived interest in these compounds in foods, nutrition, and medicine. A wide variation in carotenoid content was found among various capsicum genotypes. The total carotenoid content was generally higher in C. an nuum lines than in the accessions from other species. In contrast with the wide variation found in the content of the major carotenoids, the proportions of individual carotenoids within the total content and th e ratios among them showed much less variation. The coefficients of va riation for the ratios ranged from 8 to 35% in comparison with 70-90% for the carotenoid content. Significant correlations were found among the concentrations of the major cartenoids. Increasing the carotenoid concentration in high-pigment fruits of paprika by genetic manipulatio n improved not only the quality of the fruit as a source of food color ant but also its nutritive value. The breeding line 4126 contains abou t 240 mg of carotenoids/100 g of fresh weight, of which 20 mg is beta- carotene.