Profiling of Individual Desulfo-Glucosinolate Content in Cabbage Head (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Germplasm

Individual glucosinolates (GSLs) were assessed to select cabbage genotypes for a potential breeding program. One hundred forty-six cabbage genotypes from different origins were grown in an open field from March to June 2019; the cabbage heads were used for GSL analyses. Seven aliphatics [glucoiberin (GIB), progoitrin (PRO), epi-progoitrin (EPI), sinigrin (SIN), glucoraphanin (GRA), glucoerucin (GER) and gluconapin (GNA)], one aromatic [gluconasturtiin (GNS)] and four indolyl GSLs [glucobrassicin (GBS), 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin (4HGBS), 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (4MGBS), neoglucobrassicin (NGBS)] were found this study. Significant variation was observed in the individual GSL content and in each class of GSLs among the cabbage genotypes. Aliphatic GSLs were predominant (58.5%) among the total GSLs, followed by indolyl GSL (40.7%) and aromatic GSLs (0.8%), showing 46.4, 51.2 and 137.8% coefficients of variation, respectively. GIB, GBS and NGBS were the most common GSLs found in all genotypes. GBS was the most dominant GSL, with an average value of 3.91 mu mol g(-1) (0.79 to 13.14 mu mol g(-1)). SIN, GIB, PRO and GRA were the other major GSLs, showing average values of 3.45, 1.50, 0.77 and 0.62 mu mol g(-1), respectively. The genotypes with relatively high contents of GBS, SIN, GIB and GRA warrant detailed studies for future breeding programs since the hydrolysis products of these GSLs have several anti-cancer properties.