Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of the Indian wheat varieties

In this study, Indian wheat varieties grown under different agro-climatic zones were evaluated for their antioxidant potential. Different grain fractions (bran, flour, shorts) and the whole meal were tested using two free radicals (ABTS and DPPH) for their radical scavenging activities. More variation was observed in the antioxidant activities from different zones using DPPH assay. Irrespective of the method used, the whole meal and the bran of central zone varieties showed the highest and the north western plains zone varieties showed the lowest antioxidant activities. Within each growing zone, both the effect of genotype and environment was observed on the antioxidant activity. Both free and bound phenolic compounds were extracted from the bran of varieties representing different zones. Total phenolic content (TPC) varied from 2,900 to 5,650 mu g Gallic acid equivalents/g of bran. Bound phenolic content was found to be more strongly correlated to the TPC than the free phenolic content. Highly significant genotypic differences were observed in the total phenolic content. This study therefore indicates that Indian wheat varieties have good antioxidant activity and high content of phenolic compounds and can be used further in breeding programmes to increase the content of phytochemicals responsible for antioxidant activity.