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Phenolic Compounds in Wheat Grain Cultivars

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Abstract

Three hydroxybenzoic acids: p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid and syringic acid; six hydroxycinnamic acids: p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and four ferulic acid derivatives and a flavonoid (apigenin) were identified and quantified in 34 accessions corresponding to 19 cultivars of wheat applying HPLC coupled to diode array detector. Considerable differences between the wheat cultivars were observed in the phenolic contents. Some cultivars (Colorado, Del País, Barbilla, Jallado, Raspinegro Canario and Plaganudo) could be selected according to the high levels of phenolic compounds. Ferulic acid was the major phenolic acid compound followed by syringic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids. The proportion of ferulic acid present as dimeric forms ranged from 4.2 to 8.6% across all of the wheat cultivars analyzed. Apigenin, p-hydroxybenzoic and syringic acids did not show significant correlations. Many correlations between the determined hydroxycinnamic acids were observed. The ferulic acid and all the ferulic acid derivatives showed highly significant correlations, suggesting that the concentrations of diferulic acids depend on the concentration of ferulic acid.

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Abbreviations

RT:

Retention time

8-O-4´-diFA:

(Z)-β-{4-[(E)-2-carboxyvinyl]-2-methoxy-phenoxy}-4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid

8-5´-diFA benzofuran form:

trans-5-[(E)-2-carboxyvinyl]-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-7-methoxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-3-carboxylic acid

5-5´-diFA:

(E,E)-4,4´-dihydroxy-5,5´-dimethoxy-3,3´-bicinnamic acid

8-5´-diFA:

(E,E)-4,4´-dihydroxy-3,5´-dimethoxy-β,3´-bicinnamic acid

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge to European Project Interreg III B “Germobanco Agrícola de la Macaronesia” and Structuring Project, Ref. ULL APD-08/01, Canary Government, Spain. We also gratefully acknowledge the help of Patrick Dennis for revising and checking the English in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, University of La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38201, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

    Lia Hernández, Elena M. Rodríguez & Carlos Díaz

  2. Agricultural Biodiversity Conservation Center from Tenerife, Exmo, Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Ctra. Tacoronte-Tejina nº 20-A, 38350, Tacoronte, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

    Desirée Afonso

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  1. Lia Hernández
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  2. Desirée Afonso
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  3. Elena M. Rodríguez
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  4. Carlos Díaz
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Correspondence to Carlos Díaz.

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Hernández, L., Afonso, D., Rodríguez, E.M. et al. Phenolic Compounds in Wheat Grain Cultivars. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 66, 408–415 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-011-0261-1

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