Cereal Chem 69:577-581   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Phytate Content of Soft Wheat Brans as Related to Kernel Size, Cultivar, Location, and Milling and Flour Quality Parameters.

F. R. Dintzis, J. Lehrfeld, T. C. Nelsen, and P. L. Finney. Copyright 1992 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The phytate content of wheat bran is of interest because bran, an important dietary fiber source, contains significant amounts of phytate, which has been reported to impair mineral retention under certain dietary circumstances. The purposes of this study were to examine the phytate content of brans from soft wheat cultivars as influenced by kernel size and growing location and to determine whether any relationships existed between phytate content and flour and milling quality parameters. The influence of kernel size upon bran phytate content was determined in six soft wheat cultivars. The phytate content was significantly greater (12-24%) in bran obtained from the larger kernels in three of the six cultivars. Phytate content of the brans from 15 soft wheat cultivars grown at three different locations during the same crop year was influenced strongly by environmental factors. For these cultivars, the phytate content of the bran was significantly (P less than 0.01) correlated with the milling parameters percent flour extraction, endosperm separation index, and friability (r = 0.53, -0.41, and 0.47, respectively). These correlations suggest that endosperm is more easily separated from bran and reduced to flour when it is from soft wheats in which the bran phytate content is greater. The rankings of bran phytate content and milling and flour quality parameters were highly variable across cultivars and growing locations.