Cereal Chem. 71:111-117   |  VIEW ARTICLE


Isolation and Identification of Steryl Cinnamic Acid Derivatives from Corn Bran.

R. A. Norton. Copyright 1994 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Esters of sterols and cinnamic acid derivatives (CAD) comprise a group of compounds found in seeds of, among others, corn, wheat, rye, triticale, and rice. They have been implicated in lowering blood lipid levels. Related compounds are antioxidants and others inhibit fungal spore germination. To obtain pure compounds for bioactivity studies with corn insects and kernel-rotting fungi, an improved method of separating these compounds was developed. A high-performance liquid chromatography method, using a mixture of acetonitrile, n-butanol, acetic acid, and water (94:3:2:1, v/v), improved the resolution of steryl esters of CAD isolated from corn bran, which shows that this group of compounds is at least twice as complex as was previously reported. A simple method for hydrolysis and joint determination of the CAD and sterol portions of the ester is described. A total of 16 compounds that appear to be steryl CAD are reported along with relative retention times and composition percentages. Sitoteryl, stigmasteryl, campesteryl, campestanyl and (delta)7-sitosteryl, and (delta)7-campesteryl ferulates were identified in corn bran. Mass spectrometry data for the trimethylsilyl derivatives of the sterols esterified to ferulic and p-coumaric acids are given. In addition to known p-coumarics, campesterol and (delta)7-campestenol forms were also found.