Do Flavonoids from Durum Wheat Contribute to Its Bioactive Properties? A Prospective Study

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Food Science
• Biochemistry

Background:

• A knowledge gap exists regarding the biological properties of wheat flavonoids.
• This information is vital for developing new wheat varieties with enhanced health benefits.
• Advanced breeding lines of whole durum wheat were assessed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the biological properties of flavonoids in durum wheat advanced breeding lines.
• To determine the optimal extraction method for phenolics.
• To assess the antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibitory potential of durum wheat flavonoids.

Main Methods:

• Multi-response optimization was used to determine the best phenolic extraction method.
• High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS) was employed for phenolic analysis.
• Assays were conducted to measure peroxyl radical scavenging, reducing power, and pancreatic lipase inhibition.

Main Results:

• Aqueous acetone (50:50, v/v) yielded the highest recovery of phenolics.
• Apigenin derivatives constituted 63.5–80.7% of the main phenolics.
• Breeding line 98 showed the highest antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, but overall effects were not significant.
• No significant anti-diabetic potential was observed.

Conclusions:

• Durum wheat flavonoids, despite high concentrations, do not exhibit significant antioxidant or pancreatic lipase inhibitory effects.
• Current findings do not support pursuing breeding programs or trials focused on these specific health benefits of durum wheat flavonoids.
• The study highlights the importance of appropriate extraction methods for accurate phenolic content assessment.