Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Mechanical properties of wheat grain outer layers from common wheat distribution of the aleurone layer content in flours. As tissue mechanical
(Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars known to display distinct milling behav- properties are generally linked to the cell wall biochemical composition
ior were analyzed using uniaxial tension tests. Tensile modulus and strain and structure, analysis of the main wheat outer layers’ cell wall com-
to rupture of the tissues distinguished between the wheat cultivars. Values pounds was undertaken to establish relationships with the differences ob-
of strain to rupture were related to coarse bran size generated by grain served in mechanical properties. No clear correlation could be found with
milling, a characteristic that distinguishes the two hardness classes. As one of the wheat outer layers’ component but involvement of the outer
content of an aleurone marker in total or first break flour was also related layers’ cell wall structure in the tissues behavior at milling was con-
to coarse bran size, extensibility of wheat grain outer layers’ could be a firmed.
key parameter to explain the observed tissue mechanical behavior and thus
In the milling process, recovery of all the starchy endosperm are mainly composed of arabinoxylans (AX) and β-glucans as
with the lowest contamination with peripheral tissues is required. well as lesser amounts of cellulose and lignin (Fincher and Stone
Efficiency of this process depends on differences in mechanical 1986; Schwarz et al 1988; Mandalari et al 2005). Arabinoxylans
properties, particularly elasticity, between the endosperm and the were esterified by ferulic acid which contributed to polymer
other tissues and on tissue adhesion (Abecassis 1993). In this cross-linking (Hartley et al 1990; Ralph et al 1994). Modulation
context, friability of peripheral tissues appeared as an essential of tissue mechanical properties by these polymer cross-links were
factor for milling value because more friable peripheral tissues suggested in a number of cases as for example in Oryza (Tan et al
would induce greater incorporation of fine bran particles in flours, 1991) and Avena coleoptiles (Kamisaka et al 1990) and also by
leading to lower flour purity. Recently, grains from distinct com- amounts of these polysaccharides in shoots of wheat seedlings
mon wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) selected according to (Wakabayashi et al 2005). In durum wheat grains, relationship
their milling value differences displayed a distinct aleurone layer between the outer layers’ mechanical properties and their cell wall
fractionation behavior (Greffeuille et al 2005). This difference in biochemical composition and structure was also demonstrated
milling behavior was revealed at the first breaking step of the pro- (Peyron et al 2002a).
cess and could distinguish wheat cultivars according to their hard- Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the poten-
2
ness class. Furthermore, a significant negative relationship (R = tial difference in mechanical properties of outer layers from each
0.70) was found between the coarse bran production during milling of the wheat cultivars showing a distinct behavior during milling
and the content of an aleurone marker (phytic acid) in the first and to relate them to the bran and flour characteristics. As tension
break roll flour (B1). Two hypotheses were suggested to explain tests on hand-isolated outer layers were useful to explore the mech-
this distinct behavior within hardness classes of wheat and the anical behavior of these tissues (Mabille et al 2001; Antoine et al
reduced size of bran particles from hard wheat. One involves the 2003), they were used to compare each of the wheat cultivars. Fur-
grain mode of fracture and shearing forces applied by the endo- thermore, the outer layers isolated from common wheat grains of
sperm along the envelopes; the other suggests possible differences each cultivar were analyzed for their cell wall components as they
in mechanical properties of the outer layers themselves. In plant are generally related to the tissue mechanical properties. Finally,
tissues, mechanical characteristics are determined at different org- relationships between the observed mechanical properties and the
anization levels: tissue overall structure (cellular shape and density) cell wall biochemical composition were looked at and discussed.
(Lucas et al 1995), intercellular adhesion (Waldron et al 1997;
Jarvis 2003), and cell wall architecture, which depends on nature, MATERIALS AND METHODS
proportion, and interactions between compounds (Whitney et al
1999; Jarvis and Mc Cann 2000). Indeed, a number of studies Wheat Samples
underlined the involvement of cell wall biochemical composition Six cultivars from common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with
and structure to explain the mechanical properties of plant tissues different kernel hardness measured by NIRS analysis (Approved
(Darley et al 2001; Shopfer et al 2001; MacAdam and Grabber Method 39-70A, AACC International 2000) were selected. Sois-
2002). Wheat outer layers are composed with several tissues dis- sons, Camp Rémy, and Caphorn are hard wheat cultivars with
tinct by their structure and biochemical composition and consist hardness scores of 69, 64, and 81, respectively. Crousty, Scipion,
mainly of cell walls (except the aleurone layer). Cereal cell walls and Ornicar are soft wheat cultivars with hardness scores of 22,
22 and 14, respectively. All samples were harvested in France in
2002 from different locations and supplied by Arvalis-Institut du
1 UMR Ingénierie des Agropolymères et Technologies Emergentes, INRA, 2 Place Végétal (Paris, France) or Danone Vitapole (Palaiseau, France).
Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 01, France.
2 ARVALIS, Institut du Végétal, 16 rue Nicolas Fortin, 75013 Paris, France.
They were cleaned to remove impurities and stored at room temper-
3 UMR Chimie Biologique, INA-PG, 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France. ature before milling. Protein content of each batch was determined
4 Corresponding author. Phone: 33 (0)4 99 61 31 05. Fax: 33 (0)4 99 61 30 76. by NIRS analysis (Approved Method 39-10, AACC International
E-mail: lullien@ensam.inra.fr 2000) and had a range of 10.9 and 11.3% dry mass.
DOI: 10.1094 / CC-83-0641
Standard molecules as phenolic acid monomers or sugars were
© 2006 AACC International, Inc. purchased from Sigma Chemical (St. Louis, MO).
TABLE I
Coarse Bran Size Distributiona
Hard Cultivars Soft Cultivars
Size (μm) Soissons Camp Rémy Caphorn Crousty Ornicar Scipion
>2,000 6.1 5.1 4.2 11.7 15.3 18.4
1,400–2,000 25.6 24.0 22.4 29.1 30.2 30.9
1,250–1,400 19.5 18.0 21.9 17.9 17.7 16.7
<1,250 48.8 52.9 51.5 41.3 36.8 34.0
a % of total coarse bran mass.
TABLE II
Mechanical Properties of Common Wheat Outer Layers Isolated According to Radial Orientation and Measured Using Tension Testsa,b
Cultivar E (N.mm–1) felast (N.mm–1) εelast (%) fmax (N.mm–1) εmax (%) Wtot (N.mm)
Soissons 76.8a 2.1a 1.8d 3.2a 11.1c 0.3ab
Camp Rémy 68.6a 1.8ab 2.7c 2.6b 8.7d 0.2c
Caphorn 37.8b 1.1cd 3.0c 1.6d 9.7d 0.1d
Crousty 63.3a 1.7ab 2.7c 2.7ab 15.0b 0.3a
Ornicar 23.8c 1.4bc 4.6b 2.2bc 19.6a 0.3a
Scipion 14.8c 0.8d 6.0a 1.7cd 21.3a 0.2bc
a Linear strength to elastic deformation and to rupture (felast, fmax), elastic and maximum strain or extensibility (εelast, εmax), tensile modulus (E), and total energy to
rupture (Wtot). Mean values for n = 6–10, depending on cultivar.
b Values followed by the same letter in the same column are not significantly different (P < 0.05).
TABLE III
Linear Regression Analysis Valuesa
E εelast felast εmax fmax Wtot
R2 0.50 0.73 0.29 0.98 0.10 0.13 Fig. 1. Data of tensile modulus and strain-to-rupture from curves obtained
a Determination coefficients (R2) obtained from linear regression analysis of after uniaxial tension tests of each isolated sample of grain outer layers
relationships between the main mechanical parameters of hand-isolated wheat from six distinct wheat cultivars. Delimited area marks samples from hard
grain outer layers measured using uniaxial tension tests and proportion of wheat cultivars. Data were from Soissons (), Camp Rémy (), CapHorn
large size (>2,000 μm) coarse bran related to total amount. (U), Crousty (S), Ornicar (
), and Scipion (z).
TABLE IV
Wheat Grain Outer Layers’ Composition in Polysaccharides and Phenolic Acidsa,b
Cultivar Cellulose β-Glu AX Ara Ara/Xyl FA DHD DHT p-CA Xyl/DHD
Soissons 9.4a 8.6b 31.2ab 11.8bc 0.61b 0.46a 0.10a 0.018a 0.008a 473c
Camp Rémy 10.0ab 8.4b 32.8b 12.5c 0.62b 0.61e 0.13bc 0.027b 0.017d 395b
Caphorn 8.8a 9.9c 31.9ab 12.1bc 0.61b 0.50b 0.12b 0.026b 0.012b 402b
Crousty 11.0bc 7.3a 31.7ab 12.5c 0.64c 0.63e 0.14d 0.032c 0.015c 343a
Ornicar 9.9ab 9.2bc 30.1a 11.4ab 0.61b 0.54c 0.10a 0.018a 0.016c 470c
Scipion 11.6c 7.2a 30.8ab 10.9a 0.55a 0.58d 0.13cd 0.035c 0.008a 366ab
a Cellulose, β-glucans (β-glu), and arabinoxylans (AX) as sum of xylose (Xyl) and arabinose (Ara) resulting from total acid hydrolysis of the tissues; arabinose
(Ara) content, total ferulic acid (FA), sum of ferulic acid dehydrodimers (DHD), ferulic acid dehydrotrimer (DHT), and p-coumaric acid (p-CA) concentration
released after alkali hydrolysis. Ara/Xyl, ratio between arabinose and xylose; Xyl/DHD, molar ratio of xylose to ferulic acid dehydrodimers. Distinct letters in
the same column indicate distinct groups determined by ANOVA taking into account corresponding standard errors (P < 0.05).
b Mean values in % dm.