Edible Allium Species Research Articles

Unravelling the bridge of polyphenol composition and mineralomics in Se biofortified edible Allium species

Selenium is an essential element for the well-being of humans and animals. Micronutrient deficiencies affect over half of the global population. Biofortification of crops with selenium represents an economically sustainable solution to combat this problem. In this study, seven Allium species underwent Se biofortification, via Se soil enrichment with selenate in pots, at three distinct concentration levels and were used to explore the relationship between Se plant internalization, polyphenol composition, and mineral content. Allium species were chosen because they are recognized as secondary accumulators of Se. Plant morphology, as well as the presence of fifteen phenolic acids and flavonoids, were analysed using a UHPLC-DAD system. Mineral content was determined using both ICP-OES and FAES. Se levels were quantified using a validated method based on HG-HR-CS-QT-AAS. Even at the lowest biofortification level, Allium species demonstrated potential as sources of dietary Se, offering viable alternatives to Se supplements, without negatively impacting the main mineral content. Higher biofortification levels led to reduced levels of flavonoids and phenolic acids, accompanied by potential decreases in biomass for certain species. The study highlighted how Se concentration affects key polyphenols like quercetin, gallic acid, and luteolin, although the response varied among species.

Influence of Different Packages and Storage Temperatures on the Quality of Edible Allium Species

Allium resources in Russia are a potential source of genes for expanding the genetic base of agricultural crops. The leaves of Allium crops have a short freshness period and quickly deteriorate due to spoilage and loss of water. The aim of the work was to establish the yield and change in the quality of green leaves of Allium species introduced into the Moscow region during short-term storage, depending on the type of packaging, storage period, and temperature. Research methods: introduction and mobilization of existing plant genetic collection of representatives of the genus Allium L. was carried out as part of the implementation of the State task. Four to five-year-old plants of four species (A. altyncolicum, A. chyatophorum, A. nutans and A. turkestanicum) were grown on the collection plot of perennial onions of VNIIO, a branch of the FGBNU FNTSO. In the conditions of the Moscow region, the yield per leaf generation varied from 2.7 kg/m2 (A. altyncolicum) to 4.9 kg/m2 (A. cyathophorum). The maximum yield of marketable products was noted in hermetically sealed plastic bags when stored for 10 days at a temperature of +6 to +8 °C in a refrigerator with controlled conditions: A. turkestanicum—70.0%, A. cyathophorum—75.5%, A. altyncolicum—84.9%, A. nutans—92.9%. The maximum content of vitamin C during storage in hermetic bags with a density of 100 μm was found in A. altyncolicum (37.1 mg per 100 g) and A. nutans (42 mg per 100 g). A slight increase in the amount of sugars after storage for 10 days was noted in species with a linear leaf shape when stored in a polymer box. Temperature control is the most effective approach to extending the shelf life of fresh green leaves by measuring their weight loss and vitamin C.

How Does Allium Leafy Parts Metabolome Differ in Context to Edible or Inedible Taxa? Case Study in Seven Allium Species as Analyzed Using MS-Based Metabolomics.

Genus Allium (F. Amaryllidaceae) includes a wide variety of edible foods widely consumed for their nutritive as well as health benefits. Seven Allium species, viz., chives, Egyptian leek, French leek, red garlic, white garlic, red onion, and white onion aerial parts were assessed for metabolome heterogeneity targeting both aroma and nutrients phytochemicals. A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed. Results revealed extensive variation in volatiles and nutrients profile among the seven Allium species represented by a total of 77 nutrients and 148 volatiles. Among edible Allium species, French leek encompassed high levels of nutrients, viz., sugars, fatty acids/esters, organic acids, and amino acids, compared to Egyptian leek. Sulfur aroma compounds appeared as the most discriminatory among Allium, taxa accounting for its distinct flavor. Furthermore, chemometric analysis of both datasets showed clear discrimination of the seven Allium species according to several key novel markers. This study provides the first comparative approach between edible and inedible aerial leafy parts of Allium species providing novel insight into their use as functional foods based on such holistic profiling.

Karyotypic analysis on three edible Allium species from Bangladesh

Three edible species of Allium, namely, A. sativum, A. cepa and A. tuberosum were cytogenetically investigated to highlight the chromosomal variations among them. These three species of Allium revealed two different numbers of chromosomes with divergent karyotype formula i.e. 2n = 16 = 12m + 4sm in A. sativum, 2n = 16 = 14m + 2sm in A. cepa and 2n = 32 = 28m + 2sm+ 2st in A. tuberosum. A pair of satellite chromosome was found only in A. tuberosum. According to Stebbins’s classification 1B (A. sativum) and 2A (A. cepa and A. tuberosum) type of chromosomal asymmetry were observed. The present cytogenetical analysis revealed that A. cepa was primitive in nature compared to other two species. A. sativum was found to be contemporary to A. cepa and A. tuberosum was more advanced type. Bangladesh J. Bot. 51(2): 353-358, 2022 (June)

A. vineale'nin Morfolojik Karakterizasyonu

Allium vineale L. is a wild edible Allium species. This species is collected from nature by the local people in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and consumed as a vegetable. Aboveground organs of A. vineale plants are used in herbed cheese production in the eastern provinces. Collection from nature is not a sustainable way production of this species. A. vineale can be propagated via seeds and bulbils. It is suitable for cultivation under field and protected conditions. For agricultural production of this species, new cultivars with improved yield and quality traits have to be developed. In this study, an A. vineale germplasm was created with the aim of developing new cultivars that can be used in herbed cheese production. The accessions included in the germplasm were characterized for desired traits such as adaptability to culture conditions, agronomic characteristics and harvest uniformity. The phenotypic diversity of A. vineale accessions were examined using morphological descriptors derived from International Union for the protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). According to the clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) made by evaluation of the morphological features, the accessions were divided into two main groups based on the locations. Germplasm accessions differ from each other for leaf waxiness and color intensity. A. vineale can be distinguished from other Alliums present in the same area with thin leaves, short plant height, and multiple bulbils in the flower scapes.

Antiviral Activity, Phytochemistry and Toxicology of Some Medically Interesting Allium Species: A Mini Review

Aims: COVID-19 pandemic affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Since there is no effective treatment, the need of finding alternative methods, which can help to curb this pandemic is urgent. This study aims to collect the information on the virucidal and toxicity properties of the Allium species. This genus is known to be source of nutraceuticals and also used as food. In this context, species of this genus can be proposed as an alternative solution against COVID-19.
 Methodology: The literature review was conducted on Allium spp during searches on different databases such as PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct, Scielo, DOAJ, Science alert and Google scholar. The scientific names of Allium species, antiviral compounds, antiviral activity and toxicology of the plants of interest were used as keywords. Mendeley was used to make bibliographic references and the chemical structures of the natural compounds from Allium genus were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software.
 Results: The findings from literature review showed that the Allium genus has demonstrated antiviral activity on several types of virus (Herpes simplex virus type 1, Herpes simplex virus type 2, Human immunodeficiency virus, Influenza virus, Cytomegalovirus, Human papillomavirus, Vesicular stomatitis virus, vaccinia virus, and human rhinovirus type 2 human cytomegalovirus). The species of this genus have also been used as food. Some species of Allium genus contain minerals such as Zinc, which have shown an effect on SARS-CoV-1, and could be involved in account for the reported antiviral effect.
 Conclusion: Edible Allium species could be used in the management of COVID-19. Molecular docking of main molecules of Allium species with SARS-CoV-2 protease is in progress.

A Comparative Study of Seed Germination And Seedling Emergence of Two Wild Edible Allium Species Endemic to Zagros Areas

Allium L. is one of the largest and most diversified monocotyledonous genera worldwide. These taxa have wide geographical distribution range mainly occurred in the northern hemisphere with an important center of diversity in the Mediterranean and Irano-Anatolian regions. They include an important number of taxa of high economic values (wild edible, cultivated, medicinal, ornamentals, etc.). These geophytes species exhibit diversified adaptation strategies that permit them to persist under harsh environmental conditions. The present experimental study was designed to understanding better the environmental factors that control the natural regeneration of the two wild edible Allium (A. calocephalum and A. notabile) species endemic to Zagros areas via evaluating the effect of different (i) pre-sowing treatments on seed germination rate and (ii) soil depth on seedling emergence timing. The results of the present study confirmed relatively high seed and bulbs viabilities under the different pre-sowing treatments. In general, both Allium species have a relatively similar germination trend (around 80% without treatments) and seedling emergence (from bulbs at 5 cm) patterns. The high rate of seed germination for A. calocephalum was found under cold stratification for 1 month and soak in water for 3 days and GA3 1500 ppm with 83%, 86%, and 85%, respectively. The different germination pattern was found for A. notabile with 83%, 85%, 84% for soaking water for 2 and 3 days and GA3 1000 ppm, respectively. Whoever, these two threatened species from different taxonomical groups and habitats have different adaptation strategy. A. notabile is Mediterranean species exhibiting an optimum seedling emergence in autumn-early winter with summer underground organ dormancy to avoid the hot-dry conditions; While, A. calocephalum is IranoAnatolian species exhibiting an optimum seedling in late winter-early spring permitting it to persist thanks to its avoidance strategy of the harsh winter climatic conditions. The results of this research support the idea that Allium species from different habitats exhibit different seed germination and seedling emergency strategies allowing it to persist. The evidence of this experimental study enriches our understanding of the diversified adaptation strategy of the plants. In this context, further experimental investigations are needed to evaluate the crucial rule of the seed germination ecology and bulbs dormancy strategies on the population dynamic and persistence.

Genetic characterization of Allium stipitatum accessions: an economically wild edible Allium species with unique flavor

We evaluated the genetic diversity of Iranian Mooseer (Allium stipitatum Regel. syn. A. hirtifolium Boiss.) using morphological traits and AFLP markers and determined the phylogenetic relationships and the position of Iranian Mooseer among domesticated and wild edible alliums using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence data. Four EcoRI and MseI AFLP primer combinations rendered produced 376 markers, 204 being polymorphic (53.28% polymorphism). AFLP data separated clearly the Kazeroun accession, originating from the warmer Southern region of Iran, from the other 20 accessions. According to the morphological evaluation data, Khansar, Kouhrang and Daran accessions showed the highest means for bulb weight. Cluster analysis based on morphological traits divided the Mooseer germplasms into three main groups. The ITS results indicated that Iranian Mooseer clustered with other A. stipitatum accessions, but with small differences. They were phylogenetically close to Iranian wild edible alliums and clearly differentiated from other domesticated alliums. Separation of three Iranian Mooseers from A. stipitatum samples originated from other countries in two distinct groups according to their ITS sequence shows that probably these two groups have divergent evolutionary paths.

Genetic characterization of Allium tuncelianum: An endemic edible Allium species with garlic odor

Allium tuncelianum (Kollman) Özhatay, Matthew & Şiraneci is a native species to the Eastern Anatolia. Its plant architecture resembles garlic ( Allium sativum L.) and it has mild garlic odor and flavor. Because of these similarities between two species, A. tuncelianum has been locally called “garlic”. In addition, both A. tuncelianum and garlic has 16 chromosomes in their diploid genomes. Recently, A. tuncelianum has been suggested as the wild progenitor species of garlic. In this study, amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) markers and nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) were used to assess genetic and phylogenetic relationships among A. tuncelianum, garlic and some other Allium species. AFLP analysis demonstrated that A. tuncelianum and garlic are genetically distinct and they are likely different species. Phylogenetic analyses based on the nucleotide sequence of ITS suggested that A. tuncelianum and garlic are distinct species and placed A. tuncelianum, garlic, Allium ampeloprasum and Allium scorodoprasum into the same clade in the neighbor joining dendrogram and in the consensus tree of parsimony analysis. However, A. tuncelianum was phylogenetically less related to garlic than either A. ampeloprasum or A. scorodoprasum, suggesting that A. tuncelianum may not be the immediate wild ancestor species of garlic. Further studies to generate hybrid progeny between A. tuncelianum and garlic (if possible) could provide more information on the homology between the chromosomes of A. tuncelianum and garlic and genetic relationships between these two species.

Fatty acid composition of Allium species lipids

Fatty acid (FA) composition of the main edible Allium species [onion ( Allium cepa), garlic ( Allium sativum) and leek ( Allium porrum)] is determined by gas chromatography (GC). Total lipids are isolated according to the Kates and Eberhart method and separated into neutral, glycolipids and phospholipids by solid phase extraction chromatography using a silica column. GC analysis of FA is achieved using a BPX70 (SGE) column and an optimized method. Eighty percent of the total lipids of all species consists of four FA: linoleic (46–53%), palmitic (20–23%), oleic (4–13%) and α-linolenic acid (3–7%). In onion, 43 FA are determined, 18 of that above 0.4% and 4 above 2.5%. In garlic, 70 FA are determined, 14 of that above 0.4% and only 4 above 2.5%. In leek, 50 FA are determined, 12 of that above 0.4% and 4 above 2.5%. Phospholipids consist of a limited number of specific FA, while neutral lipids contain a wide range including some unusual FA.

Evolution of genome size across some cultivated Allium species

Allium L. (Alliaceae), a genus of major economic importance, exhibits a great diversity in various morphological characters and particularly in life form, with bulbs and rhizomes. Allium species show variation in several cytogenetic characters such as basic chromosome number, ploidy level, and genome size. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the evolution of nuclear DNA amount, GC content, and life form. A phylogenetic approach was used on a sample of 30 Allium species, including major vegetable crops and their wild allies, belonging to the 3 major subgenera Allium, Amerallium, and Rhizirideum and 14 sections. A phylogeny was constructed using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of 43 accessions representing 30 species, and the nuclear DNA amount and the GC content of 24 Allium species were investigated by flow cytometry. For the first time, the nuclear DNA content of Allium cyaneum and Allium vavilovii was measured, and the GC content of 16 species was measured. We addressed the following questions: (i) Is the variation in nuclear DNA amount and GC content linked to the evolutionary history of these edible Allium species and their wild relatives? (ii) How did life form (rhizome or bulb) evolve in edible Allium? Our results revealed significant interspecific variation in the nuclear DNA amount as well as in the GC content. No correlation was found between the GC content and the nuclear DNA amount. The reconstruction of nuclear DNA amount on the phylogeny showed a tendency towards a decrease in genome size within the genus. The reconstruction of life form history showed that rhizomes evolved in the subgenus Rhizirideum from an ancestral bulbous life form and were subsequently lost at least twice independently in this subgenus.

Morphological and Agronomical Characteristics in Interspecific Hybrid Plants between Rakkyo (Allium chinense) and Other Edible Allium Species.

Some characteristics of interspecific hybrid plants between Allium chinense and some other edible Allium species were surveyed. Interspecific hybrid plants between Allium chinense and A. tistulosum, were similar to A. chinense in morphological appearance. All the hybrid plants formed white-colored bulbs similar to those in A. chinense. Bulb weight varied widely, ranging from 1.6 g to 49.0 g with an average value of 15.8 g. The average weight of the hybrid(15.8 g) was much greater than that of A. chinense (8.1 g). The average value of total bulb weight per hybrid plant was 104.3 g, again significantly higher than 68.9 g in A. chinense. Multiplication in the hybrid plants also ranged widely from 1.5 to 21.5, and the average value of 6.6 in hybrid plants was intermediate between both parents. Flowering time in the hybrid plants was June to August, which was intermediate between both parents.

Efficient Production of Interspecific Hybrids between Allium chinense and Edible Allium spp. through Ovary Culture and Pollen Storage.

To solve the problems in difference of flowering periods among edible Allium species, the pollen of Allium species was stored until pollination. The pollen stored at - 30°Cmaintained higher germinability than that stored at 5°C in all Allium species examined. The results of the pollen viability test, expressed as a pollen germination rate after anthesis, revealed that the pollen should be harvested as soon as anthesis occurs or at latest within 12 hours. In the crossing between A. chinense and A. fistulosum, the optimum conditions for ovary culture of interspecific hybrids were clarified. It was important to initiate ovary culture 5 days after pollination and to culture ovaries on MS medium containing 5 % sucrose at 25 °C. By this ovary culture, the hybird plants between A. chinense and A. fistulosum, two genotypes of A. cepa. A. tuberosum or A. ampeloprasum were obtained and their hybridity was confirmed by DNA analysis.