Characterization of grain quality and phenolic acids in ancient wheat species (Triticum sp.)

The matter of this study was to determine the phenolic acid profile of different ancient wheat, furthermore, to analyze the total phenolic content (TPC) with the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and the antioxidative capacity with the ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) assay. The concentration and composition of free, conjugated, and insoluble bound phenolic acids were analyzed in 20 accessions of wheat (Triticum sp.), including 16 ancient wheat and 4 bread wheat samples grown in Germany. Six phenolic acids were analyzed by HPLC, and ferulic acid (FA) was identified to be the abundant phenolic acid. The content of phenolic acids in total was comparable to bread wheat, ranging between 141.0 and 542.0 mu g GAE/g (gallic acid equivalent/g) whole wheat flour. In the current study no significant distinction between the analyzed species could be observed. There was no significant impact by the Triticum species, neither on the total phenolic content by Folin-Ciocalteu nor on the antioxidative capacity by ORAC. Correlation analysis between ORAC values and total phenolic acids demonstrated a positive correlation (r=0.469. p=0.05). Phenolic acids, TPC and ORAC values of the analyzed ancient wheat samples were comparable to bread wheat.