Comparative Studies On The Nutrient Content And Antioxidant Capacity Of Purple Root Water Hyacinth And Common Water Hyacinth

Water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes), the floating aquatic vascular plants, mainly lives in rivers and lakes of the low latitudes countries, which is often considered a problematic invasive species. Based on the common water hyacinth, Purple root water hyacinth was developed by Yunnan Institute of Ecology with Gene Phenotype Induction Technique(GPIT). In this study, we compared the Basic nutrition(including Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, vitamin C and protein content), the total content of polyphenols and flavonoids and antioxidant capacity in roots, stems and leaves of Common water hyacinth, Purple root water hyacinth after treating sewage and Purple root water hyacinth before treating sewage. On the basis of comparative analysis, we explored the advantage features in Purple roots water hyacinth. The results suggested that basic nutrient content of the samples showed little difference; the total content of polyphenols and flavonoids(including the binding form and free form) in Purple root water hyacinth was generally higher than that in Common water hyacinth. Samples’ antioxidant activities were evaluated by Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity Assay(ORAC), which showed content of antioxidants in binding form samples higher than that in free form samples; in free form samples, antioxidants content in leaves was significantly higher. Purple root water hyacinth had stronger antioxidant capacity than common water hyacinth, up to 40μmol TE / g or more. Purple root water hyacinth before treating sewage had the highest antioxidant capacity, followed by Purple root water hyacinth after treating sewage. We preliminary concluded that the total content of polyphenols and flavonoids and antioxidant capacity was closely linked with GPIT according to the results. This experiment laid the foundation of understanding of Common water hyacinth and Purple root water hyacinth and provides useful reference for further study of its internal mechanism.