The Antioxidant Potential of Grains in Selected Cereals Grown in an Organic and Conventional System

Cezary A. Kwiatkowski, Elżbieta Harasim (), Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk and Jolanta Joniec
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Cezary A. Kwiatkowski: Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Elżbieta Harasim: Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk: Department of Agrosystems and Economics of Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation—State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Jolanta Joniec: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Leszczyńskiego 7, 20-069 Lublin, Poland

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: The paper presents the effect of conventional (use of NPK mineral fertilizers and pesticides) and organic (no use of agrochemicals) farming systems on selected parameters of antioxidant properties of winter wheat, spring barley and oat grain. The research was carried out during the period 2017–2019 at the Czesławice Experimental Farm (central Lublin region, Poland) on loess soil (second quality class). The aim of the research was to evaluate the functional (antioxidant) properties of winter wheat, spring barley and oat grain in whole grain and its milling fractions (dehulled grain, flour and bran). The reduction potential (Fe +3 → Fe +2 ), the ability to eliminate the free DPPH • radical and the total antioxidant potential in the β-carotene/linoleic acid system were determined. Polyphenol content was also determined using Folin–Ciocalteau reagent. The organic system did not significantly increase the antioxidant properties of cereal grains compared to the conventional system. Under organic farming conditions, oat grain was characterised only by the most favourable antioxidant properties. A highly statistically significant correlation was found between total polyphenol content and DPPH • free radical quenching capacity, especially for oat and barley in the organic system. The closest correlations were for the fractions of bran and whole grain. Dehulling of grain, with the exception of oat grain, irrespective of the farming system, resulted in a significant deterioration of the antioxidant potential of grain extracts. In summary, the study showed that the bran obtained from oat grown under an organic system had the strongest antioxidant activity.

Keywords: wheat; barley; oat; polyphenols; antioxidant activity; DPPH •; organic farming; conventional farming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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