Overview of the Metabolite Composition and Antioxidant Capacity of Seven Major and Minor Cereal Crops and Their Milling Fractions.

Ribeiro da Silva Lima L, Barros Santos MC, P Gomes PW, Fernández-Ochoa Á, Simões Larraz Ferreira M

Published: 28 May 2024 in Journal of agricultural and food chemistry
Keywords: cereal coproducts, metabolomics, multivariate data analysis, phenolic compounds, polyphenols
Pubmed ID: 38803291
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c01312

Cereal grains play an important role in human health as a source of macro- and micronutrients, besides phytochemicals. The metabolite diversity was investigated in cereal crops and their milling fractions by untargeted metabolomics ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) of 69 samples: 7 species (barley, oat, pearl millet, rye, sorghum, triticale, and wheat), 23 genotypes, and 4 milling fractions (husk, bran, flour, and wholegrain). Samples were also analyzed by in vitro antioxidant activity. UHPLC-MS/MS signals were processed using XCMS, and metabolite annotation was based on SIRIUS and GNPS libraries. Bran and husk showed the highest antioxidant capacity and phenolic content/diversity. The major metabolite classes were phenolic acids, flavonoids, fatty acyls, and organic acids. Sorghum, millet, barley, and oats showed distinct metabolite profiles, especially related to the bran fraction. Molecular networking and chemometrics provided a comprehensive insight into the metabolic profiling of cereal crops, unveiling the potential of coproducts and super cereals such as sorghum and millet as sources of polyphenols.