•High rate plants/m2 promoted higher phenolic content in some ancient wheat varieties.•Campestanyl and sitostanyl ferulates were the main steryl ferulates in wheat.•Steryl ferulates were proposed as ...markers for cereals differentiation.•Ancient whole-wheat pasta showed 50 % higher steryl ferulates than modern one.
A big challenge for our century concerns discovering new foods, including re-discovering ancient wheat. Phenolic and steryl ferulates composition of Tuscan and Campania wheat samples was evaluated by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS. Cinnamic acids and flavonoids were expressed as ferulic acid and schaftoside equivalents, respectively. Agronomic conditions with a higher rate of plants/m2 promoted higher amounts of phenols in most of the Tuscan varieties. The ancient varieties Gentil Rosso (1137 μg/mg dry weight) and Carosella 2 (854 μg/mg dry weight) showed the highest phenols amount, determined by HPLC-DAD. Steryl ferulates were expressed as ferulic acid equivalents. Campestanyl and sitostanyl ferulates were found as main steryl ferulates compounds in wheat, differently from rice, millet and sorghum; 10 steryl ferulates and 2 caffeoyl phytosterols were tentatively identified. Total steryl ferulates in Tuscan and Campania wheat samples ranged 37.6–62.3 μg/g dry weight and 14.4–56.6 μg/g dry weight, respectively. Ancient whole wheat pasta showed 50 % higher steryl ferulates with respect to modern whole wheat pasta. The study compared for the first time the content of γ-oryzanol derivatives in ancient and modern wheat varieties.
The aim of this work was to summarize the most recent research focused on the study of plant–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbiosis, both in a generic context and in the specific context of ...wheat cultivation. Taking into account the last 20 years, the most significant studies on the main plant advantages taken from this association are reviewed herein. Positive advances that have been reported stem from the mutualistic relationship between the plant and the mycorrhizal fungus, revealing better performance for the host in terms of nutrient uptake and protection from salinity, lack of water, and excess phytotoxic elements. Mycorrhiza studies and the recent progress in research in this sector have shown a possible solution for environmental sustainability: AMF represent a valid alternative to overcome the loss of biological fertility of soils, reduce chemical inputs, and alleviate the effects of biotic and abiotic stress.
Wheat amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) are a family of wheat proteins, which play an important role in plant defence against pest attacks. Recently, ATIs have been identified as major stimulators of ...human innate immune cells leading to cause Non-celiac Wheat Sensitivity. Information about ATI sequence differences among wheat species is scarce, especially considering ancient wheat genotypes. In this study, ten selected wheat accessions with different ploidy level and year of release were used for gene sequencing of four representative alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor genes (WMAI, WDAI, WTAI-CM3 and CMx genes). The phylogenetic analysis and the PCA analysis performed on the deduced amino acid sequences of ATI genes evidenced that the ten wheat genotypes can be differentiated on the basis of their ploidy level, but not with respect to ancient or recently developed wheat genotypes. The haplotype analysis based on Nei's genetic distances, beside confirming these results, also allowed the separation of the hulled from the naked wheat genotypes. The genetic sequence differences highlighted in this study among the ten genotypes can be the basis for further studies aimed at identifying proinflammatory sequences in ATI genes. This is the first study analyzing the ATI genetic sequences of a set of ancient and modern wheat genotypes with a different ploidy level.
Display omitted
•ATI sequencing in ancient and modern wheat genotypes with different ploidy level.•Phylogenetic and PCA analysis allowed differentiation based on wheat ploidy level.•Nei's genetic distances analysis separated hulled from naked wheat genotypes.•ATI sequences analysis couldn't differentiate modern from ancient wheat genotypes.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have gained remarkable importance, having been proved to alleviate drought stress-induced damage in wheat due to their ability to ameliorate plant water use ...efficiency and antioxidant enzyme activity. However, despite the current relevance of the topic, the molecular and physiological processes at the base of this symbiosis never consider the single cultivar affinity to mycorrhization as an influencing factor for the metabolic response in the AMF-colonized plant. In the present study, the mycorrhizal affinity of two durum wheat species (T. turgidum subsp. durum (Desf.)) varieties, Iride and Ramirez, were investigated. Successively, an untargeted metabolomics approach has been used to study the fungal contribution to mitigating water deficit in both varieties. Iride and Ramirez exhibited a high and low level of mycorrhizal symbiosis, respectively; resulting in a more remarkable alteration of metabolic pathways in the most colonised variety under water deficit conditions. However, the analysis highlighted the contribution of AMF to mitigating water deficiency in both varieties, resulting in the up- and down-regulation of many amino acids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, lipids, and hormones.
Variation in mycorrhizal susceptibility plays vital role to alleviate stress-induced damage in wheat cultivars. Display omitted
•The wheat varieties Iride and Ramirez show high and low mycorrhizal affinity, respectively.•Untargeted metabolomics approach used to study the role of AMF in mitigating water deficit.•AMF was found to cause up- and down-regulation of various primary and specialized metabolites.•More remarkable alteration of metabolomic pathways were observed in Iride variety.•No visible mycorrhizal effect occurred in well-watered conditions.
The health-promoting properties of common wheat (
Triticum aestivum L.) have been largely attributed to the presence of unique phytochemicals of whole grains. The aim of this study was to profile the ...phenolic content of 16 old and 6 modern Italian wheat varieties, cropped in the same location and growing season. High variability was observed among the investigated wheat genotypes, both in the free and bound phenolic extracts. The total polyphenol content ranged from 885.5 to 1715.9
μmol GAE/100
g of grain and, on average, the bound fraction contributed for 72.0% to the total phenolic content. As regards the flavonoid content, the free fraction ranged from 50.7 to 106.1
μmol CE/100
g of grain and the bound fraction from 78.3 to 148.9
μmol CE/100
g of grain. Moreover, the interpretation of the mass spectra allowed the characterization of 34 phenolic compounds (104 including isomer forms) belonging to the phenolic acid, flavonoid, coumarin, stilbene, proanthocyanidin and lignan chemical classes. HPLC–ESI–TOF-MS analysis highlighted remarkable differences in the phytochemical fingerprints of old and modern wheat varieties. Six ancient wheat genotypes (Bianco Nostrale, Frassineto, Gentil Rosso, Gentil Rosso Mutico, Marzuolo d’Aqui, Verna) showed phenolic profiles with a number of total compounds and isomer forms much higher than that identified in the modern cultivars. The present findings confirm that ancient wheat may represent a valuable source of biodiversity, especially as regards phenolic compounds. The investigated old wheat genotypes may be successfully used in breeding programs for developing bread wheat varieties with added value in terms of health-promoting phytochemicals.
In the last decades, finding new methods to preserve the quality of wheat during post-harvest storage has become of primary importance to guarantee high-quality food products. Attacks by rodents and ...microorganisms, as well as humidity and high temperatures, are well-known factors affecting the qualitative and quantitative features of stored grains. The use of a controlled atmosphere saturated with different gases (such as carbon dioxide-CO2 and nitrogen-N2) is known to decrease the growth of microorganisms. Furthermore, the use of N2 is free of pollutants, thus being an environmental-friendly method. In this study, the use of a controlled atmosphere saturated with N2 was investigated as a method to preserve the nutraceutical qualities in two old Italian wheat cultivars (i.e. Verna and Cappelli). In particular, vitamin E (α-tocopherol), polyphenols and antiradical activity were quantified to highlight the differences between traditional storage methods and the use of a controlled atmosphere saturated with N2. The data obtained showed that the use of a N2-saturated atmosphere reduced the loss of functional molecules, especially vitamin E, in both cultivars, during long storage periods. Moreover, the present system is suitable for the storage of seeds of old varieties cultivated under organic agriculture. Overall, the results validate the efficacy of the storage method with N2 and suggest its possible use for wheat on an industrial scale.
•The use of a controlled atmosphere preserves the nutraceutical features of old wheat varieties.•After 12 months of silos storage, the content of bound antioxidants drops.•The content of free antioxidants and polyphenols, both free and bound, is not affected by long-term storage.•The content of vitamin E follows the trend of bound antioxidants.•The use of a controlled atmosphere slows down the loss of vitamin E.
Recently, several old Italian grain varieties have been reinstated, and the market seems to reward the breads made with these flours. Among such varieties, cultivar Verna appears to be interesting ...because the regular consumption of bread obtained by this variety and sourdough provides beneficial effects on human health such as the improving of the lipid, inflammatory, and hemorheological profiles. However, flours derived from Verna shows low technological performances. For example, the W value of these flours, obtained with alveoghraphic tests and considered as the commercial standard for the flour “strength” evaluation, is largely inferior than the W values of the commercial flour blends currently used in the bread making process. Moreover, the W values broadly change among the batches of Verna flours, whereas, usually, commercial blends are provided to bakeries with standard technological properties. Hence, these properties of Verna flour could lead to developed or overworked doughs and therefore to breads of worse quality. In addition, the previous mentioned large variability of flours from Verna can affect also the sourdough microbiota. For these reasons the composition and activity of the sourdough microorganisms should be controlled while the mixing process should be able to adapt to the different flour properties. Some works, in literature, report that monitoring the electrical consumption could provide useful information about the dough rheology, and this could be used to monitor the mixing step. In the present work the effect of different mixing times are evaluated on breads made with Verna flour type 2 leavened with sourdough. Tests were carried out at industrial scale in two different days. During the tests the electric consumption was monitored to highlight some features suitable for the mixing phase control. The breads were evaluated in terms of loaf volume measurement, crumb image analysis and losses of moisture content during storage. The results show that the composition of the sourdough microbiota and the mixing time affects the produced bread, especially when it is baked with low technological performance flours. Bread baked with an appropriate mixing time shows higher loaf volumes and lower water losses during storage.
Fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is mainly characterized by widespread pain, sleeping disorders, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. In many cases, gastrointestinal distress is also reported, suggesting ...the potential pathogenic role of the gut microbiota (GM). The GM is deeply influenced by several environmental factors, especially the diet, and recent findings highlighted significant symptom improvement in FM patients following various nutritional interventions such as vegetarian diet, low-fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols based diets, gluten-free diet, and especially an ancient grain supplementation. In particular, a recent study reported that a replacement diet with ancient Khorasan wheat led to an overall improvement in symptom severity of FM patients.
To examine the effects of ancient Khorasan wheat on the GM, inflammation, and short-chain fatty acid production in FM patients.
After a 2-wk run-in period, 20 FM patients were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind crossover trial. In detail, they were assigned to consume either Khorasan or control wheat products for 8 wk and then, following an 8-wk washout period, crossed. Before and after treatments, GM characterization was performed by 16S rRNA sequencing while the fecal molecular inflammatory response and the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were respectively determined with the Luminex MAGPIX detection system and a mass chromatography-mass spectrometry method.
The Khorasan wheat replacement diet, in comparison with the control wheat diet, had more positive effects on intestinal microbiota composition and on both the fecal immune and SCFAs profiles such as the significant increase of butyric acid levels (
= 0.054), candidatus
(
= 9.95e-06) and
, and the reduction of
(
= 4.97e-04). Moreover, the improvement of various FM symptoms along with the variation of some gut bacteria after the Khorasan wheat diet have been documented; in fact we reported positive correlations between
and both Tiredness Symptoms Scale (
< 0.001) and Functional Outcome of Sleep Questionnaire (
< 0.05) scores, between
and both Widespread Pain Index (WPI) + Symptom Severity scale (SS) (
< 0.05) and WPI (
< 0.05) scores, between candidatus
and SS score (
< 0.05), and between
and Sleep-Related and Safety Behaviour Questionnaire score (
< 0.05).
The replacement diet based on ancient Khorasan wheat results in beneficial GM compositional and functional modifications that positively correlate with an improvement of FM symptomatology.
Abstract
Objective
To investigate the effects of a replacement diet with Khorasan wheat products in patients with fibromyalgia, in comparison with a similar replacement diet with control products ...made from organic semi-whole-grain modern wheat.
Design
Randomized, double-blinded crossover trial.
Setting
Outpatient clinic.
Subjects
Twenty subjects (19 female and one male, mean age = 48.9 ± 12.3 years) with fibromyalgia.
Methods
Participants were randomly assigned to consume either Khorasan or control wheat products (pasta, bread, crackers, biscuits) for eight weeks and then crossed. Validated self-administered questionnaires were collected from each subject at the beginning and end of each intervention period.
Results
A general linear model for repeated measurement, adjusted for potential confounders, showed that the overall score reported from each questionnaire improved after both intervention and control periods, but the effect was more evident after the intervention with Khorasan. In particular, a statistically significant difference in Widespread Pain Index (WPI) + Severity Scale (SS) and Functional Outcome of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) was observed, which decreased significantly by 21.5% and 11.7% respectively, only after the Khorasan period, while no statistically significant variations were reported after the control period. Similarly, FM Impact Questionnaire scores decreased significantly only after the Khorasan period, with a reduction that was significantly different between the intervention and control periods (–22.5% vs –0.3%, P = 0.037). The improvement was even greater in people with higher symptom severity.
Conclusions
A dietary intervention with Khorasan wheat products seems to benefit patients with fibromyalgia, especially those with greater symptom severity.
An evaluation of the grain functional components of Italian durum wheat cultivars was conducted. The raw material was obtained from the field trial performed in 2006–2007 at the Experimental Farm of ...the University of Bologna, (Bologna, Italy). The aim of this study was to define the phytochemical profile of ten varieties, comprised of old and modern durum wheat genotypes, including quantitative and qualitative phenolic and flavonoid content (free and bound forms). The results showed that mean values of total phenolic compound and total flavonoid content in old wheat varieties (878.2
±
19.0
μmol gallic acid equivalent/100
g of grain and 122.6
±
25.4
μmol catechin equivalent/100
g of grain, respectively) did not differ significantly from those detected in modern genotypes (865.9
±
128.9
μmol gallic acid equivalent/100
g and 123.5
±
20.6
μmol catechin equivalent/100
g, respectively). However, the HPLC–ESI-TOF-MS analysis highlighted remarkable differences between modern and old cultivars. The interpretation of the mass spectra allowed the identification of 70 phenolic compounds, including coumarins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavones, isoflavones, proanthocyanidins, stilbenes and lignans. The free extracts of ancient wheat varieties showed the presence of a mean number of phenolic compounds and isomer forms (8.7
±
2.5 and 7.7
±
4.7 respectively) significantly higher than in modern genotypes (4.4
±
2.9 and 2.0
±
2.4, respectively). A similar trend was observed also for the bound phenolic fraction. Moreover, the phytochemical profiles showed the presence of unique phenolic compounds in both free and bound fractions of some of the investigated wheat genotypes. Results highlighted that investigated old wheat cultivars may offer unique nutraceutical values for their peculiar contents in bioactive phytochemicals, suggesting their uses into a wide range of regular and specialty products naturally enriched with health-promoting compounds.
PDF
