Comparison of glucosinolate profiles in leaf and seed tissues of different Brassica napus crops

The glucosinolate profile of leaves and seeds of 33 Brassica napus L. crops, including leafy crops, forage, rutabaga, and oilseed crops, was compared by high-performance liquid chromatography to investigate the relation between the consumable product of each crop and the glucosinolate profile. Glucosinolate concentration was higher in seeds than in leaves, varying from 3.8-fold in oilseed crops to 7.1-fold in root vegetable crops. Aliphatic glucosinolates predominated in both organs. In seeds, aliphatic glucosinolates represented between 91% to 94% in the different groups, whereas in leaves there was more variation. For root vegetable crops, aliphatic glucosinolates represented 80% of the total glucosinolate concentration. For leafy and forage types, aliphatic glucosinolates represented approximately 90% and for oilseed crops represented 92%. Indole glucosinolates were more abundant in leaves (5% to 17%) than in seeds (5% to 8%). The total glucosinolate content in leaves ranged from 14 to 24 mu mol.g(-1) dry weight (DW) in oilseed and forage types, respectively, whereas in the seeds, it ranged from 55 to 115 mu mol.g(-1) DW in oilseed and forage types, respectively. Significant differences were noted among the four groups in glucosinolate concentration and glucosinolate composition. In the seeds, progoitrin was found as the main glucosinolate in all groups. In the leaves, two different glucosinolate profiles were found depending on the crop: forage and root vegetable crops showed high levels of progoitrin, whereas glucobrassicanapin was the main glucosinolate for oilseed and leafy crops. We suggest that different selection criteria applied on B. napus crops according to their use could have led to an indirect selection for glucosinolate profile in leaves.