Phenotyping Local Eggplant Varieties: Commitment to Biodiversity and Nutritional Quality Preservation.

Eva Martínez-Ispizua,Rubén Mateos-Fernández,Ángeles Calatayud,José Vicente Valcárcel,Salvador Soler,José Ignacio Marsal,María José Díez,Mary-Rus Martínez-Cuenca

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.696272

Abstract

Given the little variability among commercialised eggplants mainly in developed countries, exploring, and structuring of traditional varieties germplasm collections have become a key element for extending ecotypes and promoting biodiversity preservation and consumption. Thirty-one eggplant landraces from Spain were characterised with 22 quantitative and 14 qualitative conventional morphological descriptors. Landraces were grouped based on their fruit skin colour (black-purple, striped, white, and reddish). Landraces B7, B20, and B24 were left out for their distinctive fruit characteristics. Wide variation for plant, leaf, flower, and fruit phenology traits was observed across the local landraces, and fruit descriptors were considered the most important ones. In a second experiment, landraces, B14, B16, and B17 were selected to determine fruit quality. By contemplating the benefits provided by antioxidants and sugars for human health, pulp antioxidant capacity, total phenolic, ascorbic acid, carotenoid, flavonoid, and total sugar content were determined. Significant differences were observed across these three landraces, and B14 was highlighted for its antioxidant properties, while B17 stood out for its high sugar content. B16 did not stand out for any traits. The results indicate the wide variability in eggplants for their phenotypic and nutritional characteristics, which emphasises the importance of traditional varieties as the main source of agricultural biodiversity.

Highlights

Nutritional habits have vastly changed, and the consumption of fruit and vegetables has grown thanks to the abundance of health-promoting compounds found in them (Yahia et al, 2018)
The darkest and longest eggplants with obscure pulp were placed to the left of the plot, while the widest and lightest eggplants with a striped/mottled skin colour distribution and a whitish pulp were placed to the right of the plot
In each group described according to the fruit criteria, those landraces with wider leaves, lacking prickles, and long pedicels were placed in the upper position in the plot

Summary

Introduction

Nutritional habits have vastly changed, and the consumption of fruit and vegetables has grown thanks to the abundance of health-promoting compounds found in them (Yahia et al, 2018). Eggplant is a common annual vegetable crop grown in subtropical and tropical areas (Kaur et al, 2014) It is one of the most important vegetable crops, and 1.85 million cultivated hectares (ha) worldwide are used to grow it (with a production of 55 million tonnes). It has a huge economic impact in Africa, Europe, and especially Asia, which harvests more than 90% of the total eggplant production. Spain is the world’s tenth largest producer of this vegetable (Food and Agriculture Organization Faostat, 2019)

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Discussion

Conclusion