Wheat germ composition

Figure 2.13 HPLC analysis of aldolase-mediated DCL templated by wheat germ agglutinin (WGA. (a) Blank DCL and (b) DCL composition in the presence of WGA. Reprodnced from Reference 36 with permission of Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA. Copyright Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA.

The amino acid composition of the potato lectin is unusual in a number of respects the most abundant amino acid is hydroxy-L-proline (the first lectin reported to contain this amino acid207), 11.5% of the residues are half-cystine (compare wheat-germ agglutinin, with 20% of... 

Nachbar and coworkers investigated the composition of Ehrlich ascites, tumor-cell plasma membrane by using a series of lectin-Sepharose adsorbents (R. communis hemagglutinin, con A, wheat-germ agglutinin, and soybean agglutinin).868 The Ehrlich cells... 

Typical proximate composition of commercial wheat germ is shown in Table 2 (2). Wheat germ has great potential as a highly nutritious food supplement. Wheat germ provides three times as much protein, seven times as much fat, 15 times as much sugars, and six times as much mineral content as wheat flour (13). The... 

TABLE 4. Comparison of Fatty Acid Composition of Wheat Germ Oil Extracted with SC-C02 and Soxhlet Methods. 

TABLE 5. Nonpolar Acyl Lipid Composition of Laboratory Extracted Wheat Germ Oil. ... 

The fatty acid composition of the extracts was not affected by temperature, pressure, and the extraction method (Table 4). Supercritical carbon-dioxide-extracted oil samples had similar fatty acid composition to that of the Soxhlet-extracted oil (Table 4). All of the wheat germ extracts consisted of about 56% linoleic acid (18 2 n-6), which is an essential fatty acid (Table 4). The total unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of the wheat germ oil was about 81 % and 64%, respectively. The SC-CO2 extraction of wheat germ resulted in extracts with similar tocopherol and tocotrienol compositions to those of the Soxhlet extracts (Table 8) (50). These results indicate that SC-CO2 technology can be used for extraction and fractionation of WGO components to obtain products with high quality. 

Tocopherols are important antioxidants present in relatively high concentration in soybeans. The content of tocopherols in raw soybean is shown in Table 10.1 while the compositional comparison of tocopherols in crude soybean oil and wheat germ oil is shown in Table 10.2. 

Table 10.2. Tocopherol Content and Composition of Crude Soybean and Wheat Germ Oils ...

Fig. 3.7. Composition of triacylglycerols present in edible fats or oils as determined by HPLC. a Olive oil, b soybean oil, c sunflower oil, d wheat germ oil. Fatty acids P palmitic, S stearic, O oleic, L linoleic, Ln linolenic, Ao eicosanoic...

About 60-70% of the tocopherols in oilseeds are retained during the oil extraction and refining process (cf. 14.4.1 and Table 3.54). Some oils with very similar fatty acid compositions can be distinguished by their distinct tocopherol spectrum. To illustrate this, two examples are provided. The amount of P-tocopherol in wheat germ oil is quite high (Table 3.54), hence it serves as an indicator of that oil. The blending of soya oil with sunflower oil is detectable by an increase in the content of linolenic acid (cf. 14.5.2.3). However, it is possible to make a final conclusive decision about the presence and quantity of soya oil in sunflower oil only after an analysis of the composition of the tocopherols. 

Barnes, P.J. Lipid composition of wheat germ and wheat germ oil. Fette Seifen Anstrichm. 84, 256 (1982)... 

SOURCES OF PABA Food composition tables do not list PABA, but the following foods are generally recognized as the richest sources brewers yeast, fish, soybeans, peanuts, beef liver, eggs, wheat germ, lecithin, and molasses. 

Desulphated keratan sulphate has been shown to interact with wheat-germ agglutinin, supporting the view that non-consecutive (1 -> 4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-j8-D-glucopyranosyl residues interact specifically with the lectin to precipitate the complex. The distribution and chemical composition of keratan sulphate in various tissues, including those from a patient with Marfan syndrome, have been related to ageing. 

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