TITLE:
Relationship of Grain Fructan Content to Degree of Polymerisation in Different Barleys
AUTHORS:
Csilla Nemeth, Annica A. M. Andersson, Roger Andersson, Elke Mangelsen, Chuanxin Sun, Per Åman
KEYWORDS:
Fructan; Barley; Hordeum vulgare L.
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.6,
March
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: Fructans are
important in the survival of plants and also valuable for humans as potentially
health promoting food ingredients. In this study fructan content and
composition were determined in grains of 20 barley breeding lines and cultivars
with a wide variation in chemical composition, morphology and country of
origin, grown at one site in Chile. There was significant genotypic variation
in grain fructan content ranging from 0.9% to 4.2% of grain dry weight. Fructan
degree of polymerisation (DP) was analysed using high-performance
anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD).
Changes in the distribution of different chain lengths and the pattern of
structures of fructan were detected with increasing amount of fructan in the different
barleys. A positive correlation was found between fructan content and the
relative amount of long chain fructan (DP > 9) (r = 0.54, p = 0.021). Our
results provide a basis for selecting promising barley lines and cultivars for
further research on fructan in barley breeding with the aim to produce healthy
food products.