ABSTRACT
Plants differ strongly in their vitamin content. This is true not only between different species, but also between different varieties of the same plant species. Although increasing the concentrations of some plant vitamins, such as ascorbic acid, through breeding is considered to be achievable, the lack of interest on the part of plant breeders to work in the area is surprising if one takes note of the large genetic difference so frequently observed in the concentrations of several vitamins in some important fruits and vegetables. Genetic differences have been observed in the concentrations of biotin, folic acid, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, riboflavin, thiamin, and tocopherol in different fruits, vegetables, cereals, and legumes. Since most carotenoids are colorful pigments, there appears to be some relationship between the color and the ß-carotene content in most fruits and vegetables studied. ß-carotene, because of its colorful nature, would inevitably change the color of any plant part bred to be high in the compound.
