Antioxidant capacity in cultivated and wild Solanum species: The effect of wound stress

Abstract

Wild potatoes are of increasing interest as a gene pool in breeding. In this study, 23 genotypes of two cultivated (S. tuberosum subsp. andigena, S. phureja) and two wild Solanum species (S. chacoense, S. pinnatisectum) were evaluated for contents of soluble phenols and soluble proteins as well as their antioxidant capacity measured as ascorbic acid and trolox equivalent. Amounts of phenols present in tuber tissue ranged from 0.25 to 2.84 mg kg⁻¹ fw. On average, S. pinnatisectum (pnt) exhibited 3.9-fold greater quantities of phenols in its tuber tissue than the other Solanum species. In pnt tissue, high phenol content coincided with high levels of soluble proteins and antioxidants. It is concluded that an involvement of individual accessions of pnt in breeding could be profitable for the antioxidant potential and thus for the nutritional value of new potato cultivars. The results also revealed that soluble phenols as well as proteins present in tuber tissue substantially contributed to the total antioxidant capacity of potatoes. Moreover, it was found that quantities of soluble phenols, proteins and antioxidants increased notably upon wounding the tubers, a fact which underlines the role of all these components in wound stress responses of potatoes.