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Total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of rice
grains with extremely small size
Shao Yafang, Zhang Gan and Bao Jinsong*
Institute of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory
of Zhejiang Province and Chinese Ministry of Agriculture for
Nuclear-Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hua
Jiachi Campus, Hangzhou, 310029, People’s Republic of China.
*Corresponding author.
E-mail: jsbao@zju.edu.cn.
Tel: +86-571-86971932. Fax: +86-571-86971421.
Accepted 5 April, 2011 |
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Whole cereal grains have been received increasingly
attention by consumers due to their potential health
benefits because of their antioxidant capacity, which is
probably derived from their high contents of phenolics,
flavonoids and other phytochemicals. Here, we reported the
contents of phenolics and flavonoids in different rice
genotypes with grain size ranging from extremely small to
normal size. The smaller grains had higher phenolic content,
flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity than the normal
and larger grains. The phenolic content had positive
correlation with the flavonoid content (P<0.001) and
the antioxidant capacity (P<0.01). The phenolic and
flavonoid content had negative correlation with grain
length, grain length to width ratio and 100-grain weight (P<0.01),
but had no relationship with grain width and grain
thickness. Thus, the
phenolic content could be indirectly predicted by grain
length and 100-grain weight. New rice varieties high in
antioxidant levels could be obtained by
breeding for extremely small grain rice.
Key words:
Phenolics, flavnoids, antioxidant capacity, rice grains. |
