Abstract
SummaryFree asparagine in cereals is known to be the precursor of acrylamide, a neurotoxic and carcinogenic product formed during cooking processes. Thus, the development of crops with lower asparagine is of considerable interest to growers and the food industry. In this study, we describe the development and application of a rapid 1H‐NMR‐based analysis of cereal flour, that is, suitable for quantifying asparagine levels, and hence acrylamide‐forming potential, across large numbers of samples. The screen was applied to flour samples from 150 bread wheats grown at a single site in 2005, providing the largest sample set to date. Additionally, screening of 26 selected cultivars grown for two further years in the same location and in three additional European locations in the third year (2007) provided six widely different environments to allow estimation of the environmental (E) and G x E effects on asparagine levels. Asparagine concentrations in the 150 genotypes ranged from 0.32 to 1.56 mg/g dry matter in wholemeal wheat flours. Asparagine levels were correlated with plant height and therefore, due to recent breeding activities to produce semi‐dwarf varieties, a negative relationship with the year of registration of the cultivar was also observed. The multisite study indicated that only 13% of the observed variation in asparagine levels was heritable, whilst the environmental contribution was 36% and the GxE component was 43%. Thus, compared to some other phenotypic traits, breeding for low asparagine wheats presents a difficult challenge.
Highlights
Free amino acids generally account for about 5% or less of the total nitrogen content of wheat grain, with asparagine accounting for 10% or less of the total
This method gives quantitative data on a number of compounds, and in this study, we report on the further application of the high-throughput 1H-NMR screen to the HEALTHGRAIN wheat material to determine the concentration of asparagine which is the main factor determining the formation of acrylamide in baked cereal products
1H-NMR profiling of unpurified extracts made directly into deuterated aqueous methanol is a well-established technique in plant metabolomics (Baker et al, 2006; Ward and Beale, 2006; Ward et al, 2003)
Summary
Free amino acids generally account for about 5% or less of the total nitrogen content of wheat grain, with asparagine accounting for 10% or less of the total (reviewed by Lea et al, 2007). This amino acid was of little scientific interest or practical importance until the demonstration that it is a precursor of acrylamide which is formed in processed foods by a Maillard reaction with reducing sugars (Mottram et al, 2002; Stadler et al, 2002). The development of highthroughput analytical screens to monitor asparagine levels in crops and crop products is essential to support breeding and selection programmes aimed at reducing the risk of acrylamide formation
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