Triticale bran and straw: Potential new sources of phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, and lignans

The distribution of phenolic acids (free and bound), proanthocyanidins, and lignans in defatted triticale bran and straw was determined. For comparison, wheat, rye and oat brans as well as triticale flakes and leaves were also assayed. Most phenolic acids were present in the bound form (89–98%), and released under alkaline extraction conditions. The content of phenolic acids ranged from 65.2 to 252.5 mg/100 g in samples in which ferulic acid predominanted. Triticale straw was the richest source of proanthocyanidins, containing 862.5 mg/100 g (catechin equivalents) of tissue. Triticale straw contained 0.27 mg/100 g of lignan secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), whereas the bran had only 0.01 mg/100 g. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC, μM Trolox equivalents/g defatted material) showed that antioxidant activity of bound phenolics was higher than those of free phenolics. This is the first report on phenolic acids, proanthocyanidin, and lignans content of Canadian triticale by-products, indicating that they may have the potential for use as nutraceuticals and/or functional food ingredients.