Effect of wheat species (Triticum aestivum vs T. spelta), farming system (organic vs conventional) and flour type (wholegrain vs white) on composition of wheat flour - Results of a retail survey in the UK and Germany - 2. Antioxidant activity, and phenolic and mineral content

Juan Wang; Eleni Chatzidimitriou; Liza Wood; Gultakin Hasanalieva; Emilia Markelou; Per Ole Iversen; Chris Seal; Marcin Baranski; Vanessa Vigar; Laura Ernst; Adam Willson; Manisha Thapa; Bronwyn J Barkla; Carlo Leifert; Leonidas Rempelos

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2020.100091

Effect of wheat species (Triticum aestivum vs T. spelta), farming system (organic vs conventional) and flour type (wholegrain vs white) on composition of wheat flour - Results of a retail survey in the UK and Germany - 2. Antioxidant activity, and phenolic and mineral content

Food Chem X. 2020 May 4:6:100091. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2020.100091. eCollection 2020 Jun 30.

Authors

Juan Wang^{1

2

3}, Eleni Chatzidimitriou^{3

4}, Liza Wood³, Gultakin Hasanalieva^{3

5}, Emilia Markelou⁶, Per Ole Iversen^{7

8}, Chris Seal¹, Marcin Baranski^{2

9}, Vanessa Vigar¹⁰, Laura Ernst¹⁰, Adam Willson¹⁰, Manisha Thapa¹⁰, Bronwyn J Barkla¹¹, Carlo Leifert^{7

10

11}, Leonidas Rempelos²

Affiliations

¹ Human Nutrition Research Centre, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
² School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.
³ School of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, Newcastle University, Nafferton Farm, Stocksfield, UK.
⁴ French Agency For Food Environmental And Occupational Health and Safety, France (ANSES), Regulated Products Assessment Department, Residues And Food Safety Unit, France.
⁵ Department of Sustainable Crop and Food Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Universita Catollica del Sacro Cuore, I-29122 Piacenza, Italy.
⁶ Benaki Phytopathological Institute (BPI), Athens, Greece.
⁷ Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Department of Haematology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Department of Functional and Organic Food, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
¹⁰ Centre for Organics Research, Southern Cross University, Military Rd., Lismore, NSW, Australia.
¹¹ Southern Cross Plant Science, Southern Cross University, Military Rd., Lismore, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

There is strong evidence for health benefits from whole-grain wheat consumption and these have been linked to their higher fibre, antioxidant/(poly)phenolic and mineral contents. However, there is still scientific controversy about the relative effect of wheat species (Triticum aestivum vs T. spelta) and production methods (conventional vs organic) on the nutritional composition of wheat. The retail survey reported here showed that, the use of spelt varieties and organic production results in significantly higher (between 10 and 64%) levels of phenolics and some minerals in wheat flour. However, the relative effect of removing the outer bran and germ during milling was substantially larger; levels of antioxidant activity, and many phenolic compounds and mineral nutrients were 2-5 times higher in whole-grain than white flour. Organic flour contained higher concentrations of the undesirable metals Al and Ni (12% and 81% respectively), and spelt flour had 28% higher concentrations of the toxic metal Cd.

Keywords: Antioxidants; Minerals; Organic; Phenolics; Wheat flour; Whole-grain.