This document discusses plant pigments and their role in determining the color of horticultural crops. It focuses on carotenoids, which are responsible for colors like orange, red, and yellow. Carotenoids are precursors for vitamin A and are found in crops like carrots, chilies, and mangoes. The color development of these crops is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. For example, genes control carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in chilies and determine fruit color. Temperature and soil conditions also impact the color intensity of carrots. The document examines color properties and health benefits of different colored carrots. It outlines future research needs around understanding carotenoid regulation in crops like chilies.

2. BREEDING FOR COLOR DEVELOPMENT OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
IAGS, New Campus, Lahore

3. PIGMENTS
• Responsible for color and variety

4. Major plant pigments and their occurrence
Pigment Common types Where they are found Examples of
typical
colors
chlorophylls chlorophyll Green plants Green
Caretoineds Carotenes and
xanthophylls (e.g.
astaxanthin)
Vegetables like carrots . Fruits
like mangoes etc
Oranges,
reds,
yellows,
pink.
Flavonoids Anthocyanins, aurones,
chalcones, flavonols and
proanthocyanidins
Produce many colors in flowers
. Common in some plants such
as berries ,egg plants and
citrus fruits . Present in certain
teas ,wines and chocolates .
Yellow, red,
blue, purple
Betalains Betacyanins and
betaxanthins
Flowers and fungi Red to
violet, also
yellow to
orange

9. Carotenoids
• Precursor of Vitamin A

13. Betalains
Betacyanin
(betanin, isobetanin,
probetanin, and neobetanin)
Betaxanthin
(indicaxanthin and
vulgaxanthins)

14. GENERAL REIPENING

15. ETHYLENE PRODUCTION

17. • More CO2 emission
• More ethylene production
• gene ETR1 and CTR1 keep the fruit ripening genes from
activating until ethylene is made
• After ethylene production, ETR1 andCTR1 turn off
• It allows a cascade that ultimately turns on other genes that
make various enzymes:
• Pectinases to break down cell walls and soften the fruit;
• Amylases to convert carbohydrates into simple sugars;
• Hydrolases to degrade the chlorophyll content of the fruit
resulting in color change.

19. External Factors Affecting the Colour of Carrots
• 1. Temperatures above and below the optimum) reduce the colour of carrots.
• 2. Spring and summer carrots are often of better colour than autumn and winter.
• 3. Carrots grown on sandy soils and soils high in organic matter have been shown
to produce a higher colour than carrots grown on silt loams.
• 4. Excessive watering decreases the colour.
• 5. Reducing the number of daylight hours can reduce the colour.
• 6. Colour is more intense in the older portions of the root. It decreases from the epidermis
and centre toward the cambium, and from the top to the bottom.

20. Properties 0f colours in carrots
colours Pigment Properties
Orange Caotene
Alpha –carotene.
Reducing cholestrol.
Form rhodopsin which need to
see in dim light .
yellow xanthophylls and lutene Prevent lung cancer.
astherosclerosis
Red lycopene Maintain healthy skin
Prevent heart disease and
cancer .
White Lack of pigment .only contain
phytochemicals
reducing the risk of
atherosclerosis
Purple carrot Beta-carotene
anthocyanins
anti inflammatory agents.
protect key cell components
Black carrot Anthocyanins,
Flavinoids.
anti-bacterial , anti-fungicidal
properties. Anti cancer

22. • In the case of Capsicum, carotenoid-biosynthesis regulation at
the gene and enzyme levels is not fully understood. It is well
known that the total carotenoid content is quite diverse
among Capsicum species (C. baccatum, C. chacoense, C.
chinense, C. frutescens and C. annuum)
• Capsicum annuum lines very often exhibit the highest
carotenoid content, ranging between 390 and 16,600 μg/g
(d.wt.)
• These data suggest that there may be several regulation steps
in carotenoid biosynthesis, depending on the genotype

23. • Fine genetic control of carotenoid production is responsible for the
type and quantity of carotenoid accumulation in chili pepper fruits.
• It has been established that mature chili pepper fruit color is
determined by three loci (three independent pairs of
genes): c1, c2 and y
• Furthermore, using RFLP and specific-PCR to analyze DNA
sequences and thus determine polymorphisms for the CCS gene in
F2 progeny (this filial was derived from a cross between red and
yellow fruit-producing chili pepper plants) showed that CCS
completely segregated with the red fruit color and that
locus y (encoding for CCS) controlled the red character

24. • yellow chili pepper fruit color phenotype might be the result of
a CCS gene deletion
• CCS determined the chili pepper fruit color by altering the
carotenoid pattern
• A genetic map was established using RFLP and AFLP markers
and an F2 population derived from an inter specific cross
between Capsicum annuum cv. TF68 and Capsicum chinense cv.
Habanero, The TF68 ripe fruit was red and its Habanero
counterpart was orange.

26. Future Research on Chili Pepper Carotenoid
Biosynthesis
• Not all carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in chili pepper fruits are completely known and
understood, and more research is thus needed to elucidate these carotenoid pathways,
including those that produce minor carotenoids, at both the enzymatic and genetic levels.
• Unfortunately, the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in Capsicum at the gene and
enzyme level is currently poorly understood.
• Only a few studies of transcription factors or other genes that impose global regulatory
functions on carotenoid metabolism in plants have been described
• Only two types of transcription factors (RAP2.2 and PIFs) have been identified that directly
interact with the Arabidospsis PSY promoter.
• No reports of transcription factors that regulate carotenoid biosynthesis in Capsicum have
been revealed so far.
• Until now, only the CCS gene promoter has been partially studied, and some cis-element
sequences have been reported .
• Characterization of promoter sequences for all of the structural biosynthetic carotenogenic
genes should surely reveal possible interactions with transcription factors and also
developmental or environmental regulatory elements.

27. REFRENCES
• http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7A.html
• http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7H.html
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15713051
• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/origin-of-fruit-
ripening/
• http://plantsinaction.science.uq.edu.au/book/export/html/84
• http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/14/9/19025/htm
• http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcolours.html