Morphological, biochemical, and nutritional value of prickly and smooth fruit spinach

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the morphological (qualitative and quantitative traits) and biochemical characteristics (such as leaf pigments and total antioxidant capacity, vitamin E and C content, total soluble carbohydrate, total amino acid content, nitrate concentration, nitrate reductase assay, oxalic acid content, Ca and Fe content) in spinach. The selected accessions in this study were prickly (’Varamin Prickly’) and smooth (’Monatol’) fruits of spinach selected among 44 accessions. This experiment was carried out in spring, arranged as a complete randomized block with three replicates and 18 observations. Results showed no significant differences between the two accessions for most qualitative and quantitative morphological traits. In contrast, biochemical characteristics showed significant differences between the two accessions. Both accessions had high yields, but the dry biomass  of ’Varamin Prickly’ accession was more than ’Monatol’ (smooth fruit). The results indicated that the fruit type does not appear to cause variations in morphological traits, and differences in accessions could be due to genetic sources and environmental distribution. The prickly fruit accession showed a significant superiority for most qualitative nutraceutical traits, including DPPH, flavonoid, phenol, carbohydrate, amino acid, fiber, and Fe content compared to smooth fruit accession. Finally, it was found that prickly fruit accession is very suitable for mechanized harvesting and human diet due to its appropriate plant, leaf, petiole, and qualitative nutraceutical traits and can be used for breeding purposes and cultivation fields.