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Comparison of Nutritional Compounds in Premature Green and Mature Yellow Whole Wheat in Korea

¹Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, South Korea. ²Department of Crop Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, South Korea. ³Department of Horticulture, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, South Korea. ⁴Corresponding author. Phone: +82-042-821-6729. Fax: +82-042-822-6729. E-mail: ktlee@cnu.ac.kr

Until now few comparisons of nutritional compounds in premature green and mature yellow wheat have been reported. In this study, the contents of amino acids, vitamins, mineral compounds, phytosterols, and fatty acids as well as the proximate composition of premature green and mature yellow wheat were investigated. Premature green wheat had lower protein content (12.0 g/100 g db) and higher dietary fiber content (19.3 g/100 g db) than mature yellow wheat (13.6 and 14.3 g/100 g db for protein and dietary fiber, respectively). Despite a small difference in total amino acids, protein in premature wheat had a significantly greater proportion of essential amino acids: 16.1, 39.9, and 32.7 mg/g of protein for methionine, lysine, and threonine, respectively. Furthermore, the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores of whole grain premature green and mature yellow wheat were 62.8 and 46.4, respectively, showing significant difference (P < 0.05). Total fatty acids content was 2.66 g/100 g db for premature green wheat and 2.21 g/100 g db for mature yellow wheat. Vitamin C, β-carotene (provitamin A), α- and γ-tocopherol, and niacin were the major vitamins in premature green wheat, whereas vitamin C and β-carotene were not detected in mature yellow wheat. The results obtained indicated that premature green wheat has potential for the human diet because of its desirable nutritional value.