Quantification and Diversity Analyses of Major Glucosinolates in Conserved Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) Germplasms

The genebank at the National Agrobiodiversity Center (RDA-Genebank, Jeonju, Republic of Korea), conserves approximately 8000 germplasms of Brassica spp., of which Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) is one of the major crops actively used as food in Northeast Asia, including Korea, as the main ingredient for kimchi. Glucosinolates are a major class of compounds in Chinese cabbage that are responsible for their distinctive flavor, and RDA-Genebank is constantly building a related database (DB) to select suitable germplasms required by consumers and provide resources for breeding programs. In this study, ten glucosinolates were analyzed in sixty Chinese cabbage germplasms. Six aliphatic glucosinolates were the major components, accounting for 85.00% to 91.98% of total glucosinolates in each germplasm. Among them, gluconapin (333.26 to 23,501.58 μmol∙kg(−1) DW) was highly represented, followed by glucobrassicanapin (545.60 to 10,344.70 μmol∙kg(−1) DW) and progoitrin (155.28 to 8536.51 μmol∙kg(−1) DW). In addition, we selected germplasms with a high content of each studied glucosinolate. To analyze the diversity and distribution of glucosinolates among the studied germplasms, Pearson’s correlation was performed, and the related results were interpreted through their biosynthetic pathways. The k-means clustering indicated four optimal clusters, which were confirmed through principal component analysis. Orthogonal projection to latent structure discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was also performed on the status (landrace and cultivar) and origin (Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan) passport data of the germplasms, followed by the calculation of variable importance in the projection (VIP) values. These results are part of a continuous series of studies to analyze the glucosinolates of Brassica germplasms that are being conserved at RDA-Genebank. We aim to provide related results through a public platform accessible to everyone and thereby improve the distribution of Brassica germplasms.