ARS | Publication request: Phenolics in the Bran of Waxy Wheat and Triticale Lines

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 9, 2010
Publication Date: August 1, 2010
Citation: Jonnala, R.S., Irmak, S., Macritchie, F., Bean, S. 2010. Phenolics in the bran of waxy wheat and triticale Lines. Cereal Chemistry. 52:509-515.

Interpretive Summary: There is increasing interest in the phenolic compounds of cereal grains due to their anti-oxidant capacity and potential human health benefits. For example, increased consumption of phenolic compounds has been correlated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancers. Wheat is one of the most cultivated cereal grains in the world and a major food staple. Substantial research has been conducted on the phenolic compounds in wheat, however, little research has been done on waxy wheat and triticale lines. In addition, little research has been conducted to study how genetic changes to wheat such as occur in the breeding of waxy wheat impacts bioactive compounds such as phenolics. Ferulic acid was found to be the major phenolic compound in the waxy wheat lines and complete waxy lines had great total phenolic compounds than double null lines, which in turn had greater total phenolic compounds than single waxy null lines.

Technical Abstract: The present study was designed to determine total phenolic acid contents (TPC) and compositions of bran from newly developed near-isogenic waxy wheat and triticale translocation lines. Two sets of near-isogenic waxy wheats, Svevo (durum) and N11 (bread wheat), consisting of partial and waxy null lines and four sets of triticale lines (GDS7, Trim, Rhino and Rigel) having translocations at 1A.1D and 1R.1D with high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) 5+10 and 2+12 were investigated. Similar to non-waxy wheat, ferulic acid was the predominant phenolic acid found in waxy wheat lines studied. Two other major phenolics include p-coumaric and vanillic acids followed by lesser quantities of syringic acid. Waxy lines had higher TPC than the parent line in case of the N11 set, whereas the Svevo set showed the opposite trend. TPC values of waxy bread wheats were correlated with amylose fractions in which the order was complete waxy < double waxy nulls < single waxy nulls. Lines with HMW-GS 2+12 have lower total phenolics than other lines in each group of triticale samples, except Trim set. TPC was negatively correlated (r = -0.41; p > 0.1) with bran yields in triticale lines studied indicating that the variation in phenolics was not only due to bran yields but also to genotypic differences.