Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #429624
Research Project: Crop Health and Genetic Improvement of Sub-Tropical and Tropical Crops in the Pacific

Location: Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research

Title: Short Paper: Identification of carotenoid in green spathes of Hawaii anthurium cultivars

Author
item Yusufali, Zahra
item Sun, Xiuxiu
item Siderhurst, Matthew
item AMORE, TERESITA - University Of Hawaii
item Suzuki, Jon

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2025
Publication Date: 1/20/2026
Citation: Yusufali, Z.A., Sun, X.N., Siderhurst, M.S., Amore, T., Suzuki, J.Y. 2026. Short Paper: Identification of carotenoid in green spathes of Hawaii anthurium cultivars. HortScience. 61(2):409-412. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI19025-25.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI19025-25

Interpretive Summary: Anthuriums are an economically and culturally important tropical cut flower in Hawaii contributing to the 5.6 million dollar cut flower and 47.1 million dollar floriculture industry in Hawaii. The spathe, modified leaves of the floral stem are found in shades of white, red, pink, orange, salmon, purple, lavender and green. Novel colors are important to ensure vitality and sustainability of the floral industry and true yellow -flowered commercial anthurium are not widely available. In this study, two popular cultivars developed at the University of Hawaii, 'Tropic Lime' and 'Kauai' with their light green and light green to light yellow spathes, respectively were analyzed biochemically for the presence of carotenoid, the pigment responsible for yellow color in fruits and flowers. The results show that these cultivars indeed contain carotenoid that are similar in the two varieties but at different quantities. This new information will support strategies toward development of true-yellow-spathed cultivars that would contribute a novel anthurium color class for the floral and cutflower industry.

Technical Abstract: Anthuriums are an economically and culturally important tropical cut flower in Hawaii contributing to the 5.6 million dollar cut flower and 47.1 million dollar floriculture industry in Hawaii. The spathe, modified leaves of the floral stem are found in shades of white, red, pink, orange, salmon, purple, lavender and green. Novel colors are important to ensure vitality and sustainability of the floral industry and true yellow -flowered commercial anthurium are not widely available. In this study, two popular cultivars developed at the University of Hawaii, 'Tropic Lime' and 'Kauai' with their light green and light green to light yellow spathes, respectively were analyzed to identify the presence of carotenoid, a pigment produced in chloroplasts and plastids in yellow fruits and flowers. Absorption maxima spectra of hexane extracts from lyophilized, powdered spathe for both 'Tropic lime’ as well as ‘Kauai’ closely match reported values in hexane for ß carotene (ß,ß-carotene), ß cryptoxanthin (3-hydroxy-ß carotene) and zeaxanthin (ß,ß-carotene-3,3’-diol). ß carotene/derivative yields were estimated to be 66.6 ug/g and 18.72 ug/g dry weight of ‘Tropic Lime’ and ‘Kauai’, respectively. This study represents the most informative work on the nature of carotenoids produced in anthurium to date and will support strategies toward development of novel true-yellow-spathed cultivars.