A comparison between yellow-green and green cultivars of four vegetable species in pigments,ascorbate, photosynthesis,energy dissipation,and photoinhibition

Yellow-green foliage cultivars of four vegetables grown outdoors, i.e., Chinese mustard (Brassica rapa), Chinese kale (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and Chinese amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor), had lower chlorophyll (Chl) (a+b) (29–36% of green cultivars of the same species), total carotenoids (46–62%) and ascorbate (72–90%) contents per leaf area. Furthermore, yellow-green cultivars had smaller photosystem II (PSII) antenna size (65–70%) and lower photosynthetic capacity (52–63%), but higher Chl a/b (107–156%) and from low (60%) to high (129%) ratios of de-epoxidized xanthophyll cycle pigments per Chl a content. Potential quantum efficiency of PSII (F_v/F_m) of all overnight dark-adapted leaves was ca. 0.8, with no significant difference between yellow-green and green cultivars of the same species. However, yellow-green cultivars displayed a higher degree of photoinhibition (lower Fv/Fm after illumination) when they were exposed to high irradiance. Although vegetables used in this study are of either temperate or tropical origin and include both C₃ and C₄ plants, data from all cultivars combined revealed that F_v/F_m after illumination still showed a significant positive linear regression with xanthophyll cycledependent energy quenching (q_E) and a negative linear regression with photoinhibitory quenching (q_I). F_v/F_m was, however, not correlated with nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Yet, a higher degree of photoinhibition in yellow-green cultivars could recover during the night darkness period, suggesting that the repair of PSII in yellow-green cultivars would allow them to grow normally in the field.