Variation in-Carotene and other Antioxidants among Different Species of Oilseed Brassica

Cultivated varieties of oilseed Brassica belonging to seven different taxa were analyzed for various antioxidants to identify best lines in terms of antioxidant properties. The highest mean total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was observed in B. carinata group (23.12 mg/g AAE) and the lowest in Eruca sativa group. The highest and the lowest radical scavenging activities (RSA) were both observed in yellow sarson group. The mean value of β-carotene content was highest in the B. carinata (1.55 ppm) group and lowest in Eruca sativa (0.80 ppm) group. The lowest average ascorbic acid content was shown by B. juncea (51.67 mg/g) group. The mean value of total phenol content was highest in B. carinata (1.73%) followed by B. juncea (1.68%) and B. napus (1.30%). It was found to be lowest in brown sarson group (1.17%). Eruca sativa varieties showed very high levels of total flavonoids compared to other species with an average of 1160 μg/g QE. It was observed that the oil content had significant negative correlation with total flavonoids (−0.76). Hence, high flavonoid lines can be expected to have low oil content or vice versa. β-carotene has a very significant positive correlation with TAC (0.28). It may be due to the fact that β-carotene contributes the most towards antioxidant property compared to phenolic compounds or ascorbic acid. RSA was found to be negatively correlated to TAC (−0.25) which may be because antioxidant property is governed mostly by antioxidant compounds other than radical scavengers. RSA was also negatively correlated to both ascorbic acid (−0.32) as well as β-carotene (−0.23).