Abstract
Chymochromic pigments in twenty-five color forms of common portulaca dividing into eleven color groups and their F1 hybrids were studied by paper-chromatographic and spectrophotometric experiments.
Ten pigments of betacyanins (Bc1 to Bc5) and betaxanthins (Bx1 to Bx5) were chromatographically separated in various color forms of garden portulaca. Most of the flower colors were estimated by qualitative and quantitative differences of chymochromic pigments.
In general, the purple components, Bc3 and Bc4, predominantly appeared in most of F1 hybrids, while the yellow components, Bx1 and Bx2, did not appear in F1 hybrids. Therefore, betacyanin were, in general, dominant over betaxanthin.
On the other hand, the higher content of betacyanin in purple color form is dominant to the lower content of betacyanin in pink form, and the higher content of betaxanthin in yellow orange form is recessive to the lower content of betaxanthin in pink form in F1 hybrids. In some F1 hybrids, however, the pigment content is nearly intermediate between the contents of both parents. White color form containing neither betacyanin nor betaxanthin is recessive to all the colored forms examined.
