Correlation Between Antioxidant Activity and Leaf Color among Iranian Native Coriander Populations

In order to study, the correlation between leaf color and antioxidant activity of 21 coriander accessions, a completely randomized design experiment was carried in agricultural department of Shahid Chamran University during growing season 2012. After growth of plants, in harvesting stage four plants were selected randomly among three lines of each accession. The color characteristics were determined, and the leaves of each line were mixed together, one gram samples of fresh tissue for each replicate were used to measure the amount of chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoeids, vitamin C, peroxidase and catalase. The results showed that the maximum amount of carotenoids and vitamins C observed in East Azarbaijan (10.45 mg 100 gr F.w.-1) and Khorassan 1 (0.90 mg 100 gr F.w.-1) accessions, respectively. The maximum peroxidase and catalase activities were found in the accessions of the Markazi 2 and Ahwaz respectively, with 2.74 µmol of hydrogen peroxide per minute per milligram protein. The positive correlation was observed between catalase with peroxidase, catalase with hue angle of leaves, brightness and color intensity, carotenoids and chlorophyll a, b and total. According to these findings, the corianders with dark green or very bright green leaves have a higher antioxidant contents.