Cereal Chem 51:578 - 585.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Changes in Peroxidase Activity and Peroxidase Isozymes of Wheat During Germination.

J. E. Kruger and D. E. LaBerge. Copyright 1974 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Thirty-two varieties of sound Canadian hard red spring (HRS) and durum wheats were analyzed for peroxidase isozymes by polyacrylamide-slab electrophoresis at acid pH with 3-amino-9-ethyl carbazole as hydrogen donor. Small variations in isozyme patterns were found. Germination of one HRS variety, Manitou, indicated that a fivefold increase in peroxidase activity occurred after 5 days of germination. This was due to increases in amounts of pre-existing isozymes rather than formation of new components. Isoelectric focusing experiments indicated that immature and germinated wheat extracts contained peroxidase isozymes with similar pI values. The anatomical location of some of these isozymes was determined by isoelectric focusing of dissected tissues from immature wheat kernels. Peroxidase activities in extracts of wheat were found to be quite stable to heat with only 50% of the total activity being lost after a 15-min. heat treatment at 70 C.