The flowers of chrysanthemum species are used as a herbal tea and in traditional medicine. In addition, members of the genus have been selected to develop horticultural cultivars of diverse floral colors and capitulum forms. In this research, we investigated the phytochemical composition of eight gamma-irradiation mutant cultivars of Chrysanthemum morifolium and their original cultivars. The mutant chrysanthemum cultivars were generated by treatment with various doses of ⁶⁰Co gamma irradiation of stem cuttings of three commercial chrysanthemum cultivars as follows: ‘ARTI-Dark Chocolate’ (50Gy), ‘ARTI-Purple Lady’ (30 Gy), and ‘ARTI-Yellow Star’ (50 Gy) derived from ‘Noble Wine’; ‘ARTI-Red Star’ (50 Gy) and ‘ARTI-Rising Sun’ (30 Gy) from ‘Pinky’; ‘ARTI-Purple’ (40 Gy) and ‘ARTI-Queen’ (30 Gy) from ‘Argus’; and ‘ARTI-Rollypop’ (70 Gy) from ‘Plaisir d’amour’. Quantitative analysis of flavonoids, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and carotenoids in the flowers of the 12 chrysanthemum cultivars was performed using high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESIMS). Essential oils from the flowers of these cultivars were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The mutant cultivars, ‘ARTI-Dark Chocolate’, ‘ARTI-Purple Lady’, ‘ARTI-Purple’, and ‘ARTI-Queen’ showed higher total amounts of flavonoid and phenolic acid compared with those of the respective original cultivars. The mutant cultivars, ‘ARTI-Dark Chocolate’, ‘ARTI-Purple Lady’ and ‘ARTI-Purple’, which produce purple to pink petals, contained more than two-times higher amounts of anthocyanins compared with those of their original cultivars. Of the mutant cultivars, ‘ARTI-Yellow Star’ in which petal color was changed to yellow, showed the greatest accumulation of carotenoids. Ninety-nine volatile compounds were detected, of which hydrocarbons and terpenoids were abundant in all cultivars analyzed. This is the first report that demonstrated the phytochemical analysis of novel chrysanthemum cultivars derived from C. morifolium hydrid using HPLC-DAD-ESIMS and GC-MS. These findings suggest that the selected mutant chrysanthemum cultivars show potential as a functional source of phytochemicals associated with the abundance of health-beneficial components, as well as good source for horticulture and pigment industries.

Hibiscus species are rich in phenolic compounds and have been traditionally used for improving human health through their bioactive activities. The present study investigated the phenolic compounds of leaf extracts from 18 different H. acetosella accessions and evaluated their biofunctional properties, focusing on antioxidant and antibacterial activity. The most abundant phenolic compound in H. acetosella was caffeic acid, with levels ranging from 14.95 to 42.93 mg/100 g. The antioxidant activity measured by the ABTS assay allowed the accessions to be classified into two groups: a high activity group with red leaf varieties (74.71–84.02%) and a relatively low activity group with green leaf varieties (57.47–65.94%). The antioxidant activity was significantly correlated with TAC (0.933), Dp3-Sam (0.932), Dp3-Glu (0.924), and Cy3-Sam (0.913) contents (p < 0.001). The H. acetosella phenolic extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against two bacteria, with zones of inhibition between 12.00 and 13.67 mm (Staphylococcus aureus), and 10.67 and 13.33 mm (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). All accessions exhibited a basal antibacterial activity level (12 mm) against the Gram-positive S. aureus, with PI500758 and PI500764 exhibiting increased antibacterial activity (13.67 mm), but they exhibited a more dynamic antibacterial activity level against the Gram-negative P. aeruginosa.

In this study, we investigated the phenolic compounds in hop strobile extracts and evaluated their antioxidant property using DPPH and ABTS assay. The total phenolic compound (TPC) and total flavonoid compound (TFC) estimated in two different solvent extracts considerably varied depending on the extraction solvent. The most abundant phenolic compound in hop strobile was humulones (α-acid) with levels ranging from 50.44 to 193.25 µg/g. El Dorado accession revealed higher antioxidant activity in ethanol extracts (DPPH: IC₅₀ 124.3 µg/mL; ABTS: IC₅₀ 95.4 µg/mL) when compared with that of the other accessions. Correlations between DPPH (IC₅₀) scavenging TFC in ethanol extract (TFC_E, −0.941), and TPC_E (−0.901), and between ABTS (IC₅₀) scavenging TFC_E (−0.853), and TPC_E (−0.826), were statistically significant at p < 0.01 level, whereas no significant correlation was observed between antioxidant activities, TPC and TFC in water extract. This study is the first to report that variations in the level of phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of various hop cultivars depended on the type of extraction solvent used and the cultivation regions. These results could provide valuable information on developing hop products.

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is a globally important source of plant proteins, oils, and amino acids for both humans and livestock. Wild soybean (Glycine soja Sieb. and Zucc.), the ancestor of cultivated soybean, could be a useful genetic source for increasing these components in soybean crops. In this study, 96,432 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 203 wild soybean accessions from the 180K Axiom^® Soya SNP array were investigated using an association analysis. Protein and oil content exhibited a highly significant negative correlation, while the 17 amino acids exhibited a highly significant positive correlation with each other. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted on the protein, oil, and amino acid content using the 203 wild soybean accessions. A total of 44 significant SNPs were associated with protein, oil, and amino acid content. Glyma.11g015500 and Glyma.20g050300, which contained SNPs detected from the GWAS, were selected as novel candidate genes for the protein and oil content, respectively. In addition, Glyma.01g053200 and Glyma.03g239700 were selected as novel candidate genes for nine of the amino acids (Ala, Asp, Glu, Gly, Leu, Lys, Pro, Ser, and Thr). The identification of the SNP markers related to protein, oil, and amino acid content reported in the present study is expected to help improve the quality of selective breeding programs for soybeans.

Roses are one of the most important floricultural crops, and their essential oils have long been used for cosmetics and aromatherapy. We investigated the volatile compound compositions of 12 flower-color mutant variants and their original cultivars. Twelve rose mutant genotypes were developed by treatment with 70 Gy of ⁶⁰Co gamma irradiation of six commercial rose cultivars. Essential oils from the flowers of the 18 genotypes were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Seventy-seven volatile compounds were detected, which were categorized into six classes: Aliphatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic alcohols, aliphatic ester, aromatic compounds, terpene alcohols, and others. Aliphatic (hydrocarbons, alcohols, and esters) compounds were abundant categories in all rose flowers. The CR-S2 mutant had the highest terpene alcohols and oil content. Three (CR-S1, CR-S3, and CR-S4) mutant genotypes showed higher ester contents than their original cultivar. Nonacosane, 2-methylhexacosane, and 2-methyltricosane were major volatile compounds among all genotypes. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of the rose genotypes gave four groups according to grouping among the 77 volatile compounds. In addition, the principal component analysis (PCA) model was successfully applied to distinguish most attractive rose lines. These findings will be useful for the selection of rose genotypes with improved volatile compounds.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is a promising biomass crop with high yields of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Sorghum biomass has emerged as an eco-friendly industrial material useful for producing biofuels and bioplastics. This study conducted genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS)-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to establish the genetic basis of traits associated with biomass. Specifically, the researchers evaluated agronomic traits and phenolic compounds using 96 sorghum genotypes. Six phenolic compounds, luteolinidin diglucoside, luteolin glucoside, apigeninidin glucoside, luteolinidin, apigeninidin, and 5-O-Me luteolinidin, were found to be the major phenolic compounds in all genotypes. Out of our six detected phenolic compounds (luteolinidin diglucoside, luteolin glucoside, apigeninidin glucoside, luteolinidin, apigeninidin, and 5-O-Me luteolinidin), luteolinidin was the major phenolic compound in all genotypes. Next, a GWAS analysis was performed to confirm significant associations between 192,040 filtered single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and biomass-related traits. The study identified 40 SNPs on 10 chromosomes that were significantly associated with heading date (4 SNPs), plant height (3 SNPs), dry yield (2 SNPs), and phenolic compounds (31 SNPs). The GWAS analysis showed that SbRio.10G099600 (FUT1) was associated with heading date, SbRio.09G149200 with plant height, SbRio.06G211400 (MAFB) with dry yield, SbRio.04G259800 (PDHA1) with total phenolic content and luteolinidin diglucoside, and SbRio.02G343600 (LeETR4) with total phenolic content and luteolinidin, suggesting that these genes could play key roles in sorghum. These findings demonstrate the potential value of sorghum as a biomass resource and the potential for selecting sorghum genotypes with reduced phenolic contents for use in the bioindustry.