Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources

Vol. 1 (2), June 2010, pp. 236-242

Anthocyanin content of spray Chrysanthemum cultivars under polyhouse and open

field conditions

Subhendu S Gantait1* and P Pal

2

1Department of Floriculture, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Faculty of Horticulture,

Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar-736 165, West Bengal, India 2Department of Floriculture & Landscaping, Faculty of Horticulture,

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia-741 252, West Bengal

Received 30 September 2008; Accepted 15 June 2009

Fifteen spray Chrysanthemum cultivars were grown under polyhouse and open field condition during winter seasons of

2004-2005 to estimate anthocyanin in flower tepals of the cultivars. The anthocyanin was estimated (mg/100g of tepals)

from freshly harvested flower tepals that were collected at 5 days interval from flower opening to flower colour fading stage.

The results indicated that the anthocyanin content of flower tissues of spray chrysanthemum cultivars was non-significantly

more in polyhouse condition as compared to open field, whereas those cultivars which produced mostly whitish coloured

flower, viz. ‘Sarad Mala’, ‘White Anemone’, ‘Kelvin Brisk’ and ‘Lokenath’ showed more anthocyanin in open field. The

cultivars ‘Tata Red’, ‘Red Gold’, ‘Arati’, ‘Apsara Violet’ and ‘Jaya’ has been screened out as high anthocyanin content

cultivars and these may be used to exploit for extraction of anthocyanin as organic colour of plant origin.

Keywords: Anthocyanin, Spray Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Polyhouse, Open field conditions

IPC code; Int. cl.8 A01G 9/00, A23L 1/27

Introduction Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium

Ramat.) belonging to the family Asteraceae is a

popular commercial flower as well as pot mum and it

ranks second to rose among the top ten cut flowers in

the world trade of flower crops1. Among the two types

of chrysanthemum, viz. standard and spray types, the

spray chrysanthemums have genetic potentiality to

produce numerous numbers of flowers in a plant. The

wide variation exhibited by its large number of

cultivars in respect to colour and shape of blooms

ranks chrysanthemum suitable to exploit for

extraction of anthocyanin as a source of colour of

plant origin. Red through purple to blue flower

colours are all caused by anthocyanins. Anthocyanins

are water soluble strong colours and have been used

to colour food since historical times. In practice the

pure colours are very hard to obtain and most often

crude extracts are used as colour for different

purpose2. The tepals of spray type chrysanthemum

cultivars are good source of anthocyanin since those

produce large number of flowers in a single plant with

wide variations of flower colour. Many experiments

on different aspects of chrysanthemum have been

undertaken till date but there is lack of information on

total anthocyanin content of flower tepals of

chrysanthemums in polyhouse and open field.

In view of the above an experiment was undertaken

by estimating total anthocyanin in tepals of fifteen

spray chrysanthemum cultivars individually growing

under polyhouse and open field condition to meet up

the following objectives: (i) to estimate the total

anthocyanin content and their variation according to

cultivars in polyhouse and open field; (ii) to compare

polyhouse and open field in respect of anthocyanin

content of cultivars; and (iii) to assess the trend of

periodical changes in anthocyanin content in tepals of

spray chrysanthemum cultivars

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted at Horticultural

Research Station, Mondouri under Bidhan Chandra

Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, India

during winter seasons of 2004-2005 growing 15 spray

chrysanthemum cultivars, viz. ‘Amal’, ‘Sarad Mala’,

‘Kundan’, ‘Kelvin Victory’, ‘Nanako’, ‘Red Gold’,

‘Kelvin Brisk’, ‘Tata Red’, ‘Arati’, ‘Jaya’, ‘Yellow

Anemone’, ‘White Anemone’, ‘Aditi’, ‘Lokenath’ and

‘Apsara Violet’ each under polyhouse and open field

(Plate 1). The site of the experiment is located at 23o N,

83o E and 9.75 m altitude from mean sea level. The

________________

*Correspondent author:

E-mail: ssgh@rediffmail.com, ssgflori@gmail.com

GANTAIT & PAL: ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT SPRAY CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTIVARS

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Plate 1 Various spray Chrysanthemum cultivars

INDIAN J NAT PROD RESOUR, JUNE 2010

238

Soil texture was clay loam having pH 6.8, organic

carbon 0.58, total N 156.8 kg/ha, available P2O5 50.4

kg/ha and available K2O 208.5 kg/ha. The experiment

was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block Design

with three replications. The fifteen cultivars were

planted each of them on 30th July in polyhouse and

open field separately. Individual plot size was 1× 1 m

and plants were transplanted at spacing 25 × 25 cm.

Each plot was received with the recommended dose of

fertilizer of N:P:K @ 20:10:10 g/m2 and FYM 5 kg/m

2.

All the agronomic practices were followed to raise a

good crop. The anthocyanin was estimated according

to Thimm-aiah3 from freshly harvested flower tepals

that were collected at 5 days interval from flower

opening to flower colour fading stage stated as H1, H2,

H3, H4, H5 and H6 indicating first harvesting followed

by second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth harvesting of

flowers, respectively.

The replicated data on estimated anthocyanin each

for polyhouse and open field for the cultivars were

subjected to statistical analysis following Panse and

Sukhatme4.

Results and Discussion

The analysis of variance (Table 1) revealed that there

were highly significant differences among the

anthocyanin content in flower tepals of the cultivars. The

perusal of result presented in Table 2 and Figs 1-15

revealed that the anthocyanin content in flower tepals of

spray chrysanthemum cultivars were found to be non-

significantly higher in polyhouse condition as compare

to open field, whereas the cultivars produced mostly

whitish coloured flower, viz. ‘Sarad Mala’, ‘Kelvin

Brisk’, ‘White Anemone’, ‘Apsara Violet’ and ‘Aditi’

showed more anthocyanin in open field. As indicated in

Table 2 the anthocyanin content in flowers of cultivars

both in polyhouse and open field condition and their

mean varied significantly. The anthocyanin content in

tepals of flower was noticed to be significantly

maximum in cv. ‘Tata Red’ with records of 19.95, 19.24

and 19.60 mg in polyhouse, open field and their mean,

respectively, which was at par with the records of cv.

‘Red Gold’. Whereas significantly lowest amount of

anthocyanin in flower tepals was found in cv. ‘Kelvin

Brisk’ showing 0.50, 0.56 and 0.53 mg anthocyanin in

polyhouse, open field and their mean, respectively.

From the perusal of data regarding maximum

anthocyanin content in tepals of the cultivars regardless

of the growing conditions in the experiment has been

classified into four groups presented accordingly in

Table 3.

In the cultivars ‘Amal’, ‘Kundan’, ‘Kelvin

Victory’, ‘Tata Red’, ‘Arati’ and ‘Apsara Violet’

anthocyanin concentration in flower tepals were

found to be maximum mainly after 15 days of flower

opening both in polyhouse and open field condition

(Figs 1-15). There were some cultivars viz. ‘Red Gold’,

‘Yellow Anemone’, ‘White Anemone’ and ‘Aditi’

Table 1 Statistical analysis for anthocyanin content of different

cultivars under polyhouse and open field (ANOVA for characters)

Source of

Variations

df Sum of

Squares

Mean Squares F Ratio

Replicates 2 0.719461 0.359730 0.13

Env 1 11.620840 11.620840 4.30

Cv 14 2014.634913 143.902494 53.20

Env × Cv 14 1495.130382 106.795027 39.48

Error 58 156.873340 2.704713

Total 89 3678.978760 41.336840

df: degree of freedom, F Ratio: Fisher’s Ratio, Env: Environment,

Cv: Cultivar

Table 2 Anthocyanin content of different cultivars under

polyhouse and open field

Environments Cultivar

Polyhouse (Env. 1) Open field (Env. 2) Mean

‘Aditi’ 4.07 4.12 4.10

‘Amal’ 11.65 11.30 11.48

‘Apsara Violet’ 15.88 16.80 16.34

‘Arati’ 18.02 15.63 16.83

‘Jaya’ 15.07 14.20 14.64

‘Kelvin Brisk’ 0.50 0.56 0.53

‘Kelvin Victory’ 5.04 4.37 4.71

‘Kundan’ 4.93 4.73 4.83

‘Lokenath’ 10.18 10.18 10.18

‘Nanako’ 10.99 8.85 9.92

‘Red Gold’ 18.94 18.17 18.56

‘Sarad Mala’ 10.48 10.59 10.56

‘Tata Red’ 19.95 19.24 19.60

‘White Anemone’ 0.56 0.66 0.61

‘Yellow

Anemone’ 3.66 3.56 3.61

S.Em(±) 0.949 0.949 0.671

CD at P=0.05 2.69 2.69 1.90

9.99

9.53

0.245

Env.1 Mean (Polyhouse)

Env.2 Mean (Open Field)

S.Em(±)

CD at P=0.05 N.S.

S.Em: Standard Error Mean; CD: Critical Difference; P:

Probability;

Env.1: Environment 1; Env.2: Environment 2; N.S.: Non-significant

GANTAIT & PAL: ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT SPRAY CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTIVARS

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INDIAN J NAT PROD RESOUR, JUNE 2010

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Figs 1-15 Changes in anthocyanin content (mg/100g of tepals) of different spray chrysanthemum cultivars grown under polyshade and

open field condition.

GANTAIT & PAL: ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT SPRAY CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTIVARS

241

noticed maximum anthocyanin in tepals after 15 days

of flower opening in polyhouse condition, whereas

the cultivars ‘Sarad Mala’, ‘White Anemone’ and

‘Aditi’ recorded more anthocyanin during 10 days after

opening of flower in open field condition. The three

cultivars ‘Kelvin Brisk’, ‘Nanako’ and ‘Lokenath’

among the fifteen showed maximum anthocyanin in

their flower tepals at different period, viz. 10, 20 and

25 days after opening of flower, respectively both in

polyhouse and open field condition. In cv. ‘Apsara

Violet’ the anthocyanin concentration was apparently

higher in open field as compare to polyhouse. The

anthocyanin content in that cultivar was found to

increase gradually from the flower opening to onwards

15 days and thereafter that was declined. The same was

observed in cv. ‘Lokenath’ in which anthocyanin was

noticed to start increase apparently more in open field

compare to polyhouse from flower opening and that

rise gradually up to next 25 days and then declined

sharply. There were a number of cultivars ‘Sarad

Mala’, ‘Red Gold’, ‘Kelvin Brisk’, ‘Jaya’, ‘Yellow

Anemone’, ‘White Anemone’ and ‘Aditi’ showed to

produce initially more anthocyanin just from flower

opening to next 10 days onwards apparently in open

field than polyhouse but that declined thereafter more

rapidly in open field as compared to polyhouse. A

similar observation was noticed in cv. ‘Nanako’ in

which anthocyanin concentration in tepals was found to

increase for longer time up to 15 days after flower

opening. In general regardless of growing conditions

the anthocyanin content in flower tepals in most of the

cultivars were found to increase up to the first 15 days

after flower opening and then decreased gradually up

to flower colour fading stage. This may be due to the

reason of genetic make up of the cultivars and also to

some extent due to the effect of the weather variables

like thermal regime and diurnal variations during the

crop growing cycle.

Regardless of the cultivars and growing

environment it was observed that the resolution of

colour of flower looked maximum when anthocyanin

concentration in tepal was maximum. Thereafter,

during declination of anthocyanin in tepals the overall

colour of flower faded gradually from original colour

to purplish then bluish and lastly senescent white. The

total discoloration of flower was found to coincide with

the lowest anthocyanin concentration in flower tepals.

This may also be due to changes in pH of sap of flower

tepals as anthocyanin is strongly water soluble colour

and are strongly pH dependent, when the acidity

changes, the colour changes5. Delgado-Vargas and

Paredes-Lopez6

reported that many anthocyanins are

red at acidic conditions and turn purple to blue at less

acidic to alkaline conditions.

Conclusion

The anthocyanin content in flower tepals of spray

chrysanthemum cultivars were found non-significantly

higher in polyhouse condition as compared to open

field, whereas the cultivars produced mostly whitish

coloured flower, viz. ‘Sarad Mala’, ‘Kelvin Brisk’,

‘White Anemone’, ‘Apsara Violet’ and ‘Aditi’ showed

more anthocyanin content in open field than polyhouse.

The variation in anthocyanin content of flowers tepals

of cultivars was found statistically significant both in

polyhouse and open field conditions. The cultivars

‘Tata Red’, ‘Red Gold’, ‘Arati’, ‘Apsara Violet’ and

‘Jaya’ has been screened out as high anthocyanin

content cultivars and may be used to exploit for

extraction of anthocyanin as organic colour of plant

origin. Regardless of growing conditions the

anthocyanin contents of flower tepals of different

cultivars were in increasing trend during the first 15

days of flower opening and thereafter decreased

gradually up to fading of flower colour mostly 25-30

days after flowering according to the varieties, except

cultivars ‘Nanako’, ‘Kelvin Brisk’ and ‘Lokenath’.

References

1 The International Floriculture Quarterly Report, Pathfast

Publishing 1994, Vol. 5 (1), Essex, UK.

2 Natural Food Colorants, by GAF Hendry and JD Houghton

(Eds), 2nd Edn, 1996, Blackie Academic Press, Glasgow, UK.

Table 3 Different groups of chrysanthemums according to anthocyanin content of cultivars

Very Low Anthocyanin content

(< 1 mg/100g tepals)

Low Anthocyanin content

(1 - 5 mg/100g tepals)

Medium Anthocyanin content

(5 - 15 mg / 100g tepals)

High Anthocyanin content (>15

mg/100g tepals)

‘Kelvin Brisk’ (0.53 mg), ‘White

Anemone’ (0.61 mg)

‘Kundan’ (4.83mg), ‘Aditi’

(4.10mg), ‘Yellow Anemone’

(3.61mg), ‘Kelvin Victory’

(4.71mg)

‘Amal’ (11.48mg), ‘Nanako’

(9.92mg), ‘Sarad Mala’ (10.56mg),

‘Lokenath’ (10.18mg)

‘Tata Red’ (19.60mg), ‘Red Gold’

(18.56mg), ‘Arati’ (16.83mg),

‘Apsara Violet’ (16.34mg), ‘Jaya’

(14.64mg)

Note: The values given in parenthesis after the cultivars indicate maximum anthocyanin content of the respective cultivars

INDIAN J NAT PROD RESOUR, JUNE 2010

242

3 Thimmaiah SR, Pigments, Standard Methods of

Biochemical Analysis, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi,

2004.

4 Panse VG and Sukhatme PV, Statistical Methods for

Agricultural Workers, Indian Council of Agricultural

Research, New Delhi, India, 1967.

5 Natural Food Colours, Science and Technology, by GS

Lauro and FJ Francis (Eds), IFT Basic Symposium Series

14, Marcel Dkker, 2000.

6 Natural Colorants for Food and Nutraceutical Uses, by F

Delgado-Vargas and O Paredes-Lopez (Eds), CRC Press,

Florida, USA, 2003.