Chemical and biofunctional analysis for chemical breeding of vegetables

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Recent research indicates that the vegetables contain various types of biologically active (biofunctional) components that have activity against oxidation, tumor promotion, carcinogenesis and diabetic complication. However, most of the vegetables have been bred with a view to improving the productivity. There is, therefore, a possibility that the contents and the composition of biofunctional components in the vegetables vary among the cultivars bred so far. The objective of this research is to find the biofunctional components and to compare the comparison of their contents among the various cultivars of lettuce and spinach, which are the most popular vegetables all the year around. The main components in lettuce were found to be chlorogenic acid and its derivatives (chicoric acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and caffeic acid), which have the biological activity against oxidation, tumor promotion and diabetic complication. Their composition and the contents vary significantly among the cultivars, and they were able to be regulated by the culture conditions. The anti-cancer promoting activity was detected to be much lower in one cultivar compared with the other cultivars tested. The anti-oxidation activity was correlated with the contents of chlorogenic acid derivatives in some cultivars but in the others with the contents of chlorophylls, indicating that the anti-oxidation activity was found to vary among the cultivars. In spinach, the component against cancer promotion was glucocerebroside or galactocerebroside, and the content was found to vary among the cultivars by TLC analysis. These results indicate that cultivars better for the human health can be bred by the chemical breeding.