Tocotrienols and tocopherols in colored-grain wheat, tritordeum and barley

Colored-grain spring and winter wheat, spring tritordeum and barley (blue aleurone, purple pericarp, and yellow endosperm) from the harvests 2014 and 2015 were evaluated for tocol contents by HPLC-FD. Higher content of total tocols was found in spring wheat varieties compared with winter varieties. Four tocols (beta-tocotrienol, alpha-tocotrienol, beta-tocopherol, and a-tocopherol) were identified in wheat and tritordeum varieties. Dominant tocols in purple-and blue-grained wheat and yellow-grained tritordeum were alpha-tocopherol and beta-tocotrienol, whereas spring barley varieties differed from wheat and tritordeum by high alpha-tocotrienol content. Tocol content was significantly affected by genotype and in a lesser extent in some varieties and lines also by rainfall and temperatures during crop year. Higher rainfall and lower temperatures caused in most varieties higher tocol contents. Purple-and blue-grained wheat lines with higher tocol, anthocyanin and phenolic acids with health benefits may be useful for breeding new varieties.