33G-21


Tocol composition and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of lipids from barley pearling flour

F. TEMELLI, T. Vasanthan, K. Stobbe, and K. Rezaei. Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada

Tocopherols and tocotrienols (referred to as tocols) are the family of vitamin E compounds with antioxidant activity. Barley contains a high concentration of tocols. Lipids are concentrated in the outer layers of the barley kernel. Therefore, the pearling flour is a suitable starting material for lipid extraction using supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2).

The objectives were: (a) to determine the tocol content and composition of barley varieties grown in Alberta, (b) to extract barley lipids from pearling flour using SC-CO2 and analyze for tocols.

Samples of whole grain and 35% pearling flour of 20 different barley varieties were analyzed for their lipid content. Lipids of 35% pearling flour fraction of Tercel barley were extracted using SC-CO2 at different temperatures (40oC and 60oC) and pressures (24.1, 44.8 and 58.6 MPa) for 3 h in duplicate. Tocol content and composition of whole grain, 35% pearling flour, and SC-CO2 extracts were analyzed using HPLC in triplicate.

The total lipid content of whole grain was 1.92-3.01%, whereas that of 35% pearling flour was 4.33-7.90%. In general, the lipid content of hulless varieties was higher especially in the pearling flour fraction. Tocol content of the whole grain was 53.8-124.9 mg/g and that of the pearling flour was 194.9-363.0 mg/g of flour. The hulless varieties were higher in tocols, with the waxy, double waxy and Tercel barleys having the highest levels (p<0.05). a-Tocotrienol was the most abundant making up 38.6-50.1% (w/w) of the total tocols, followed by a-tocopherol (17.7-33.9%) and g-tocotrienol (10.4-20.2%). The ratio of total tocotrienols to total tocopherols was 1.6-3.9. Lipid recovery of 73-97% was achieved using SC-CO2 extraction under different conditions. Tocol concentration of extract fractions ranged from 1344-2890 mg/g extract.

Barley pearling flour can be a feasible starting material for the recovery of lipids rich in tocols with a favorable distribution of tocotrienols and tocopherols.

Session 33G, Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods: Lipid and probiotic functional foods
2:00 PM - 5:30 PM, Tuesday PM Room Hall N-1

2004 IFT Annual Meeting, July 12-16 - Las Vegas, NV