A Study of the Levels of Vitamins A, E and C and Selenium in Rhubarb (Rheum ribes L.)

Authors: ÖMER MUNZUROĞLU, FİKRET KARATAŞ, NAZMİ GÜR

Abstract: The levels of vitamins A, E and C and selenium in young shoots of Rheum ribes L. collec-ted at various altitudes from Elazığ and Tunceli Basins were examined experimentally. The vitamin le-vels and the amount of selenium were determined by HPLC and fluorometers. It was determined that the levels of A, E and C vitamins and selenium in the young shoots of Rheum ribes L. were in the ranges of 0.255 ± 0.019 - 0.363 ± 0.015 µg.gr -1 , 0.614 ± 0.014 - 0.765 ± 0.021 µg.gr -1 , 197.6 ± 10.47 - 282.3 ± 17.46 µg .gr -1 , 98.6 ± 6.88 - 141 ± 10.01 µg . kg -1 res-pectively. It was found that the amount of antioxidant vitamins in plants growing at high altitudes was higher than that in plants growing at low altitudes. It was concluded that the plants increased their re-sistivity by increasing their antioxidant vitamin levels in opposition to the free radicals increasing with stress. The amount of selenium in the materials was found to be sufficient in terms of nutrition.

Keywords: Rheum ribes L., Vitamin, Selenium, HPLC.

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