Whole grains contain various bioactive phytochemicals including phenolic acids, and consumption of whole grains may provide desirable health benefits and reduce the risks of chronic diseases due to their antioxidant activities. In this study, we qualified and quantified 9 bound phenolic compounds in 32 red and 88 white pericarp accessions of rice. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted for free (FP) and bound (BP) phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities with high-quality single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in two colored grain panels and the whole panel. Rc was detected for all FP and antioxidant capacities in the whole panel. Three loci (chr.1:30970095, chr.6:24392269, and chr.9:6670223) for more than five phenolic-related traits, two loci (chr.4:34120529 and chr.11:28947480) for more than two FP-related traits, and one locus (chr.11:23220681) for ferulic acid detected in two panels were potentially new genes that are valuable for further gene cloning. Overall, this study increases our understanding on the genetics of phenolic acid biosynthesis in the phenylpropanoid pathway.
Keywords: GWAS; antioxidant capacity; phenolic acid; polyphenol content; rice.