Cereal Chem 45:600 - 604.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Carotenoids of Wheat Flour: Their Identification and Composition.

M. Lepage and R. P. A. Sims. Copyright 1968 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Wheat flour carotenoids from two varieties of wheat were studied by chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. The major components found were lutein (xanthophyll) and its esters, a monoester and a diester. The fatty acids, identified by gas-liquid chromatography, were a mixture of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. The esters were found mainly in Thatcher wheat flour, in which they account for 78% of total carotenoids. Free lutein, however, amounted to 85% in Mindum. There was no indication of beta-carotene in any extract.