Abstract:To understand the composition and diversity distribution of anthocyanins in purple-fleshed sweetpotato, 68 domestic and exotic purple-fleshed accessions were subjected for analyzing the contents of 68 anthocyanins in 6 categories using LC-MS. The results showed that in six categories of anthocyanins, cyanidin and peonidin had higher contents and wider distribution ranges, while pelargonidin had the lowest content and the narrowest overall distribution range. The significant positive correlation was detected between the total content of anthocyanins with the contents of cyanidin, peonidin and petunidin, respectively. Systematic cluster analysis showed that the 68 purple-flesh sweetpotato accessions were clustered into 6 groups, among which the contents of all 6 categories of anthocyanins were higher in group II and lower in group IV. Eight anthocyanins were detected in all purple-flesh sweetpotato varieties, whereas nine were detected in 43, 12, 12, 44, 48, 44, 47 and 47 varieties, respectively. Correlation analysis of the 68 anthocyanins showed that several anthocyanins in each category had equal contents or showed highly significant positive correlation. Collectively, this study evaluated the composition and diversity distribution of anthocyanins composition of purple-fleshed sweetpotato accessions, and identified three purple-fleshed sweetpotato varieties with high content of 6 categories of anthocyanins and 7 varieties with high content of single type of anthocyanin. These materials are valuable for the promotion of high-quality sweetpotato and the subsequent selection and breeding of high-quality varieties.