| Abstract
| - The Brassicaceae rocket species Eruca sativa L. (salad rocket) and Diplotaxis tenuifolia L. (wild rocket)are consumed throughout the world in salads, predominantly the leaves but also the flowers andmore recently the sprouts (seedlings). Ontogenic profiling of glucosinolates and flavonoids in plantsderived from commercial seed of these species has previously been done, but no studies have beenconducted to determine how geographical origin affects glucosinolate composition in rocket species.Seeds from wild E. sativa L. and D. tenuifolia L. from diverse regions of the world were obtainedfrom gene banks and grown under controlled conditions. Sprouts were harvested when they wouldnormally be harvested for consumption, and glucosinolates were extracted and profiled in theseaccessions. All of the sprouts from Italian E. sativa L. had consistently high total glucosinolate content,with only a few exceptions, and also the highest percentage contents of 4-mercaptobutylglucosinolate.In contrast, sprouts produced from Central and Eastern European seeds had a much higherpercentage of 4-methylthiobutylglucosinolate. With a single exception, Tunisia, all sprouts producedfrom North African seeds had very high 4-methylthiobutylglucosinolate contents. The single samplefrom China had a high total glucosinolate content and glucosinolate profile that was very similar tothe accessions from Uzbekistan and Pakistan. All of the D. tenuifolia L. sprouts had consistentlyhigh total glucosinolate contents, and a high percentage of this was 4-mercaptobutylglucosinolate.This glucosinolate variation in levels and profiles of the rockets can be used for genetic studies,selected breeding, and human intervention studies. Keywords: Eruca sativa; Diplotaxis tenuifolia; rocket; glucosinolates; geographical origin; seedlings;sprouts; LC/MS
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