Breeding onion and garlic cultivars with higher levels of functional compounds

GALMARINI, C.R.

Lisboa

Congreso; 28th International Horticulture Congress; 2010

ISHS

Allium species have been cultivated for thousands of years for its therapeutic properties, religious significance, taste, and aroma. Nowadays, the basic concept of nutrition is changing, including the potential of foods to enhance health, to improve welfare and reduce the risk of diseases. In this context appear the functional foods. Garlic and onion have phytochemicals categorized as functional foods; some of them are fructans, flavonoids and organosulfur compounds. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) and onion (Allium cepa L.) are the main vegetable crops exported by Argentina. More than 90% of the cultivars that are cropped in the country were originated by breeding programs carried out by INTA. One of the main goals of these programs is the diversification of the cultivar offer. The characterization of nine garlic and eight onion cultivars according to its organosulfur, flavonoid and fructan composition, variables related to the flavor of these species, like pungency, solids content, and functional properties, in special its antiplatelet activity, has been recently completed; as well as the correlations among these traits. Also our group carried out in vivo studies using animal models that confirmed the potential health benefits of Argentinean germplasm. This characterization allow choosing garlic clones for fresh consumption (with lowest pungency); to obtain pharmacological products (with highest allicin content), and for dehydration industry (with high solids content). Besides several crosses between selected onion lines have been done to produce segregating progenies for breeding purposes. The results achieved provide valuable information that will contribute to breed new onion and garlic cultivars which may contribute to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease among other human diseases.