5319 Amd 3 Musa IITA 17 MTR_Task 2: Crop Improvement, Cultivar Screening: identification of variation in total carotenoid and pVAC content in plantain varieties

Abstract

Sixty-four plantain accessions were screened for provitamin A carotenoid content using HPLC and total carotenoids using spectrophotometry to identify high carotenoid plantains for breeding or fast-track delivery. Results indicate large differences between accessions for total carotenoids which ranged from 5.52 ug/g to 17.64 ug/g fresh weight and mean pro vitamin A from 3.85ug/g to 10.06ug/g.