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Grain fructans play an important role in the physiology of wheat plants and also impact on the health of consumers of wheat-based products. Given the potential economic importance of fructan levels, if genetic variability could be identified for this trait, it may be a potentially useful breeding target for developing climate-resilient and nutritionally enhanced wheat varieties. The aim of the current study was to screen 78 genetically diverse Australian wheat varieties released between 1860 and 2015 to determine if historic breeding targets have resulted in changes in fructan levels and to identify potential breeding parents for the development of varieties with specific fructan levels. The impact of seasonal conditions on grain fructan levels were also investigated. Analysis of the varieties in this study indicated that historic breeding targets have not impacted on grain fructan levels. Fructan content in flours varied between 1.01 to 2.27%, showing some variation among the varieties. However, a significant variation in fructan levels was observed between different harvest years (mean values for 2015 and 2016 samples were 1.38 and 1.74%, respectively). While large variations in fructan contents of different varieties were not found, there were some varieties with consistently higher or lower fructan contents which could be used to breed varieties with specific fructan levels.
A wide variety of pigments, like chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobiliproteins, which exhibit colours ranging from green, yellow, brown to red are present in algae. Increasing awareness of harmful effects of synthetic dyes and inclination of society towards the usage of natural products, such as plant / microbial based colours in food and cosmetics, has led to the exploitation of microalgae as a source of natural colours. Algal pigments have great commercial value as natural colorants in nutraceutical, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry, besides their health benefits. Spirulina, Dunaliella capsules are now commonly prescribed health foods for improving vitality and longevity of human beings. This review describes the distribution, structure of these pigments in algae, with emphasis on specific techniques for extraction and purification, along with different methods of biomass production and commercially feasible techniques documented in literature. An overview of the industrial applications of these natural colouring agents in diagnostics, food and cosmetics industry is also provided.
Pigmented rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes become increasingly important in the agroindustry due to their bioavailable compounds that have the ability to inhibit the formation and/or to reduce the effective concentration of reactive cell-damaging free radicals. This study aimed at determining the concentrations of free, and bound phytochemicals and their antioxidant potential (DPPH and ABTS assays) as well as the vitamin E and carotenoids contents of non-pigmented and pigmented rice genotypes. The results confirmed that the content of total phenolics and flavonoids contents, as well as the antioxidant capacity (DPPH and ABTS assays) of pigmented rice was several-fold greater than non-pigmented ones (4, 4, 3 and 5 times, respectively). Compounds in the free fraction of pigmented rice had higher antioxidant capacity relative to those in the bound form, whereas the non-pigmented rice cultivars exhibited the opposite trend. Ferulic acid was the main phenolic acid of all rice genotypes, whereas black rice contained protocatechuic and vanillic acids in higher contents than red rice and non-pigmented rice genotypes. For vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin and β-carotene) contents, no obvious concentration differences were observed between non-pigmented and pigmented rice, with the black rice exhibiting the highest carotenoid content. Overall, pigmented rice genotypes contain a remarkable amount of bioactive compounds with high antioxidant capacity; therefore, they have great potential as a source of bioactives for developing functional food products with improved health benefits.
-Uribe , J.A. , Serna-Saldivar , S.O. 2012 . Nutraceutical properties of blue maize . In: Jimenez-Lopez , J.C. (ed.), Maize: Cultivation, uses and health benefits . Nova Science Publishers , New York, USA , pp. 113 – 135
. Dykes , L. , Rooney , L.W. 2007 . Phenolic compounds in cereal grains and their health benefits . Cereal Food. World 52 : 105 – 111 . Edgerton , M
valuable sources of antioxidants . Fruits 69 , 61 – 73 . 26. Salvin , J. L. , Loyd , B. ( 2012 ) Health benefits of fruits and vegetables . Adv. Nutr. 3 , 506 – 516
. Potential health benefits of avenanthramides of oats . Nutr Rev. 67 ( 12 ): 731 – 735 . Nathanail , A.V. , Syvähuoko , J. , Malachová , A. , Jestoi , M. , Varga , E. , Michlmayr
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