Effects of environment, nitrogen, and sulfur on total phenolic content and phenolic acid composition of winter wheat grain

Authors: TIAN, WENFEI - Kansas State University; Wilson, Tara; CHEN, GENGJUN - Kansas State University; Guttieri, Mary; NELSON, NATHAN - Kansas State University; FRITZ, ALLAN - Kansas State University; SMITH, GORDON - Kansas State University; LI, YONGHUI - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/2021
Publication Date: 3/24/2021
Citation: Tian, W., Wilson, T.L., Chen, G., Guttieri, M.J., Nelson, N., Fritz, A., Smith, G., Li, Y. 2021. Effects of environment, nitrogen, and sulfur on total phenolic content and phenolic acid composition of winter wheat grain. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10432.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10432

Interpretive Summary: The health advantages of whole wheat flour for combatting heart disease, diabetes, and obesity have been reported previously. A group of naturally occurring chemical constituents of grain, the phenolic acids, are one component of the health-promoting compounds in whole wheat flour. This study measured changes in total phenolic acids, and the individual phenolic acid chemical constituents, in a set of four winter wheat varieties grown in two cropping seasons under different levels of nitrogen and sulfur fertilizer application rates. Year and variety had the strongest effects on total phenolic content, followed by the effect of sulfur. Total phenolic content was higher in the hotter and drier year. Nitrogen level did not have a significant effect on total phenolic content. These results may be useful for the management of grain that is destined for whole wheat flour.

Technical Abstract: Health benefits of whole wheat are partially attributed to phenolic compounds. This study reports the effects of harvest year (Y), nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilization, and wheat variety (V) on total phenolic content (TPC) and phenolic acid composition of wheat grains. The year effect was significant for TPC and all phenolic acids except for syringic acid. The TPC and phenolic acid composition significantly differed among the varieties, except for vanillic acid concentration. Increased nitrogen fertilizer led to increased production of trans-ferulic acid, and sulfur application affected the response to nitrogen fertilizer application. Varieties also differed in the response of phenolic acid concentration and composition to sulfur application. To our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the effects of nitrogen, sulfur, variety, harvest year, and their interactions on phenolic profiles of hard red winter wheat grains. These results will benefit future wheat production practices that aim to produce wheat grains with enriched natural antioxidants.