Pungency, sugar and antioxidant activity profiling of Indian garlic (Allium sativum L.) genotypes under short-day conditions

Abstract Garlic is valued for its culinary and therapeutic properties due to its sulfur-containing compounds, sugars and antioxidants. In the present study, 25 Indian garlic genotypes were profiled under short-day conditions during the two rabi seasons of 2020-21 and 2021-22 at ICAR-DOGR, Pune. Ten biochemical components were quantified and showed significant variation across genotypes, including total sugars (53.33-441.16 mg/g fw), reducing sugars (4.64–21.03 mg/g fw), non-reducing sugars (0.35–118.60 mg/g fw), pyruvic acid (25.49–47.42 µmol PA/g fw), allicin (1.53–3.40 mg/g fw), total soluble solids (26.67–37.60%), moisture (58.98–68.88%), total phenols (4.21–6.34 mg/g GAE fw), total flavonoids (0.46–1.80 mg/g QE fw) and antioxidant activities estimated through FRAP (0.24–0.56 µmol/g TE fw), DPPH (0.29–0.41 µmol/g TE fw) and ABTS (0.58–1.30 µmol/g TE fw). Clove colour based evaluation revealed significant effects on biochemical trait partitioning, particularly antioxidant capacity as determined by FRAP, ABTS and DPPH assays, with notable variation among white, purple and pink cloved genotypes. Purple-cloved types exhibited higher reducing sugars and allicin content, white-cloved genotypes showed greater accumulation of non-reducing sugars, phenolics and ABTS activity, while pink-cloved types recorded elevated pyruvic acid levels. Correlation analysis indicated strong associations between pyruvic acid and allicin and between phenolics and ABTS activity. Principal component analysis coupled with k-means clustering grouped the genotypes into three distinct clusters. Overall, the study elucidates clove colour associated metabolic differentiation in garlic and provides a useful biochemical framework for breeding and food-industry applications targeting quality, pungency and health-promoting attributes.