Phenolic acids and antioxidant activities in husk of different Thai rice varieties

This study was designed to investigate the free and bound phenolic acids as well as their antioxidant activities in husk of 12 Thai rice varieties consisting of pigmented rice and normal rice. The pigmented rice husk gave higher free total phenolic contents than normal rice husk. However, there was no significant difference in bound total phenolic contents between pigmented rice and normal rice husks. Ferulic and p-coumaric acids were the major phenolic acids in the free fraction of pigmented rice husks, whereas vanillic acid was the dominant phenolic acid in the free fraction of normal rice husks. On the other hand, p-coumaric acid was highly found in bound form of both pigmented and normal rice husks. The antioxidant activity of husk extracts was positively correlated with the total free phenolics content and individual of phenolic acids especially ferulic acid. On the basis of this study, it is suggested that the rice husk could be a potential phenolic acid source and may therefore offer an effective source of natural antioxidant. Our findings provide valuable information on phenolic acids composition and antioxidant activity of husk for further food application.