Screening of eggplant genotypes with respect to anthocyanin content

Abstract

Seventeen eggplant lines were analysed for total anthocyanin content from the peel at the edible maturity stage of the fruits. For this, the trial crop was grown in the kharif season of 2018-2019 in RBD design with three replications. The purple-fruited lines had higher anthocyanin content than the green and white-fruited lines. Significant differences were observed among the lines for anthocyanin content irrespective of the degree of purple skin colour. Pusa Shyamla had the highest anthocyanin content (139.04 mg/100g) followed by Pusa Purple Round (51.33 mg/100g). The HPLC analysis identified cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidin-3- O-glucoside and delphinidin-3-rutinoside anthocyanins in brinjal lines. The highest delphinidin-3-O-glucoside was found in purple fruited variety Pusa Upkar (7.44 mg/kg FW) and delphinidin 3-rutinoside in purple fruited line BR-40-7 (18.83 mg/kg FW). The lines rich in anthocyanin content were identified in the present study and can be used in the breeding programme in transferring the genes in high-yielding eggplant varieties.