Betanins have become excellent replacers for artificial red-purple food colourants. Red beet (Beta vulgaris L. spp. vulgaris) known as beetroot, is a rich source of betalains, which major forms are betanin (red to purple) and vulgaxanthin (yellow). | Preharvest application of ethephon and postharvest UV-B radiation improve quality traits of beetroot Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris as source of colourant .den color inherit .ttnd ol .ttnd ul .ttnd dl padding 0 0px 0 20px .ttnd hr margin 10px 0px .ttnd a href javascript void 0 .ttnd a href color inherit dtextscript p text-align left dtextscript img vertical-align middle Barba-Espin et al. BMC Plant Biology 2018 18 316 lt br gt https s12870-018-1556-2 lt br gt lt br gt lt br gt lt br gt lt br gt RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access lt br gt lt br gt Preharvest application of ethephon and lt br gt postharvest UV-B radiation improve quality lt br gt traits of beetroot Beta vulgaris L. ssp. lt br gt vulgaris as source of colourant lt br gt Gregorio Barba-Espin1 2 Stephan Glied-Olsen2 Tsaneta Dzhanfezova3 Bjarne Joernsgaard3 Henrik Lütken2 lt br gt and Renate Müller2 lt br gt lt br gt lt br gt Abstract lt br gt Background Betanins have become excellent replacers for artificial red-purple food colourants. Red beet Beta lt br gt vulgaris L. spp. vulgaris known as beetroot is a rich source of betalains which major forms are betanin red to lt br gt purple and vulgaxanthin yellow . Betalains and phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites accumulation of lt br gt which is often triggered by elicitors during plant stress responses. In the present study pre-harvest applications of lt br gt ethephon an ethylene-releasing compound and postharvest UV-B radiation were tested as elicitors of betalains lt br gt and phenolic compounds in two beetroot cultivars. Their effects on quality parameters were investigated and the lt br gt expression of biosynthetic betalain genes in response to ethephon was determined. lt br gt Results Ethephon was applied as foliar spray during the growth of beetroot resulting in increased betanin lt br gt and decreased soluble solids contents without detrimental effects on beetroot yield. The most rapid lt br gt accumulation rate for .
