High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of anthocyanins in Japanese garden iris and its wild forms

Summary

The anthocyanins of 43 varieties and 4 wild forms of Iris ensata in their outer perianths were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography procedures. Using the different components of major anthocyanins, each variety and wild form were classified into six types such as malvidin 3RGac5G-petunidin 3RGac5G, petunidin 3RGac5G-malvidin 3RGac5G, malvidin 3RGac5G, petunidin 3RGac5G, delphinidin 3RGac5G and malvidin 3RG5G-petunidin 3RG5G. Among these types, the delphinidin 3RGac5G type was noteworthy because such a type was useful for the breeding of a blue flower. The malvidin 3RGac5G-petunidin 3RGac5G type accounted for ca. 70% of the varieties and all wild forms examined. This type, therefore, was regarded as the basic one for I. ensata, while the other types were variants for major anthocyanins. There was no particular relationship between flower colors such as purple, red-purple, blue-purple, light-purple and pink and the types of major anthocyanins except for one, i.e. all varieties classified into the malvidin 3RGac5G or petunidin 3RGac5G type exhibited pink flowers. Finally, the utility of the relative species for the breeding of new flower varieties of I. ensata was discussed.