Antioxidant capacity and vitamin E in barley: Effect of genotype and storage

Antioxidants, including vitamin E, may have a positive effect on human health and prolong storage of food items. Vitamin E content and antioxidant capacity were measured in 25 barley genotypes before and after 4 months storage at 10 °C using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ability to scavenge DPPH radicals, respectively. As expected, α-tocotrienol (α-T3) and α-tocopherol (α-T) were the predominant tocol isomers. Vitamin E content and antioxidant capacity varied significantly among genotypes. Vitamin E ranged from 8.5 to 31.5 μg/g dry weight (DW) while ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant capacity (AEAC) varied from 57.2 to 158.1 mg AEAC/100 g fresh weight (FW). Generally, lower vitamin E content or antioxidant capacity was observed in hulless or coloured genotypes. These results suggest that some genotypes are potential candidates for breeding of barley cultivars with high vitamin E content or antioxidant capacity at harvest, even after storage.