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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317764
Title: Influence of genetic background on anthocyanin and copigment composition and behavior during thermoalkaline processing of maize

Author
item COLLISON, AMY - Texas A&M University
item YANG, LIYI - Texas A&M University
item Dykes, Linda
item MURRAY, SETH - Texas A&M University
item AWIKA, JOSEPH - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/26/2015
Publication Date: 5/26/2015
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60976
Citation: Collison, A., Yang, L., Dykes, L., Murray, S., Awika, J.M. 2015. Influence of genetic background on anthocyanin and copigment composition and behavior during thermoalkaline processing of maize. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 63:5528-5538.

Interpretive Summary: Visual color is a primary factor for foods purchase and thus identifying factors that influence color quality of pigmented maize during processing is important. Twenty-four pigmented maize hybrids (red/blue, blue, red, and purple) were investigated for the effect of pigment and copigment composition on color stability during nixtamalization and tortilla chip processing. The red/blue and blue samples generally contained the highest proportions of acylated anthocyanins. Phenolic amides were the major copigments in all samples; red and blue maize had the most putrescines and spermidines, respectively. In general, the red/blue samples retained their color quality the best, and thus are good candidates for processing into alkalized products.

Technical Abstract: Visual color is a primary factor for foods purchase; identifying factors that influence in-situ color quality of pigmented maize during processing is important. We used 24 genetically distinct pigmented maize hybrids (red/blue, blue, red, and purple) to investigate the effect of pigment and copigment composition on color stability during nixtamalization and tortilla chip processing. The red/blue and blue samples generally contained higher proportions of acylated anthocyanins (mainly cyaniding-3-(6”-malonylglucoside)) than the red and purple color classes. Phenolic amides were the major extractable copigments in all samples (450-764 µg/g), with red samples containing the most putrescines and blue samples containing the most spermidines. Even though samples with higher proportions of acylated anthocyanins retained more pigments during processing, this did not relate to final products color quality. In general, the red/blue samples retained their color quality the best, and thus are good candidates for genetic improvement for direct processing into alkalized products.