Comparison of the phosphorus and mineral concentrations in bran and abraded kernel fractions of a normal barley (Hordeum vulgare) cultivar versus four low phytic acid isolines.

Phytic acid consists of 65-80% of the total phosphorus (P) in cereal grains. Its salts are concentrated in the germ and aleurone layers, which are typically removed during milling. We hypothesize that concentrations of different types of P and minerals in milled products will be greatly altered in low phytic acid (lpa) barleys. Seeds of cv. Harrington (control) and four lpa isolines-lpa1-1, lpa2-1, lpa3-1, and M955-were abraded by a laboratory method into five surface layer and four remaining kernel fractions. Results show that phytic acid in the four lpa lines ranged from 75% to 5% of the control. The decrease in phytic acid P concentration was matched almost equally by an increase in inorganic P, so that the rest of P (the sum of all P-containing compounds other than phytic acid P and inorganic P) and total P levels remained relatively unchanged among the five genotypes. These trends were also observed for the processed fractions. The major mineral elements in barley seeds were P, K, Mg, S, and Ca, while minor ones were Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Ba. All types of P and other minerals measured were generally concentrated in the outer layers of the grain. Although there were substantial differences in mineral contents of bran fractions among genotypes, the level of phytic acid P had little effect on mineral contents in whole or abraded kernels. One major exception was Fe, which had the highest level in all tissues of M955 genotype. The above findings were all confirmed by analyzing another set of barley samples grown in a different environment. Thus, in general, breeding lpa barleys does not lead to reduced mineral contents in whole grains or elevated mineral levels in milled products.