L. Filippo D’Antuono

Fiber quality of emmer (Triticum dicoccum Schubler) and einkorn wheat (T monococcum L) landraces as determined by analytical pyrolysis

Hulled wheat grain is used mainly in the alternative or health food market. Most of the suggested beneficial effects of these cereals are due to specific characteristics of their fibre. Pyrolysis/gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) has proved to be a reproducible analytical tool for fibre analysis applicable to the analysis of cereal fibre. Pericarp fibre of 10 emmer and einkorn wheat landraces were analysed by PY/GC/MS and compared to a test durum wheat variety. The pyrolysis fragments derived from the polysaccharide fraction were significantly more abundant in emmers than in the other genotypes, whereas the highest percentage of lignin-derived pyrolysis fragments was detected in durum wheat. The genotype groups (winter and spring emmers, einkorn and durum wheat) were satisfactorily discriminated on the basis of the molecular composition of the fibre, whereas a discrimination within groups was not possible due to the limited number of samples available. The results suggest that the native emmer genetic material may represent a source of high-value dietary fibre. Breeding should aim at preserving such characters.

The impact of sesquiterpene lactones and phenolics on sensory attributes: An investigation of a curly endive and escarole germplasm collection.

In the present study, curly endive (Cichorium endivia L. var. crispum) and escarole (Cichorium endivia L. var. latifolium) accessions were investigated for their sensory characters (bitterness, astringency and herbaceous flavour) and acceptance in relation to sesquiterpene lactone and phenolic content. Different facets of the perception of these sensory traits in relation to lactones and phenolics were brought out. Lactucopicrin and kaempferol malonyl glucoside were consistently related to bitterness, astringency and herbaceous flavour perceptions. Overall acceptance was significantly and inversely related mainly to bitterness. The generic statement that sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic compounds are determinants of bitterness and other related sensory characters does not seem to be fully consistent with our data, that indicated how the balance of different compounds affects these traits individually, in a rather complex manner, with a prevailing negative impact of phenolics. Bitter, astringent, and herbaceous perceptions were significantly affected by variety, with curly endive showing on average higher scores in comparison to escarole, with particular respect to bitterness.

Pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of spelt (Triticum spelta L.) pericarp

Pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) was used to characterize the pericarp fiber of grain samples of 6 spelt (Triticum spelta L.) along with 3 different bread wheats plus 7 spelt–wheat crosses. Absolute amounts of lignin and polysaccaride pyrolysis products were quantified as μg mg−1 of sample using an internal standard method. The pyrolysis fragments ascribed to the polysaccharide fraction were significantly more abundant in spelt whereas wheats contained the highest percentage of lignin-derived pyrolysis fragments. Discriminant analysis differentiated spelt, spelt–wheat crosses and wheat. Thus, among possible options for fiber analysis, PY/GC/MS proved to be a reproducible and reliable analytical tool, which can be easily applied to the screening and characterization of cereal fiber.