Effects of Anthocyanin on Antioxidative Activity and Seed Dormancy in Wheat Grain

Anthocyanin content and antioxidative activity in wholemeal flour of purple pericarp and blue grain wheat were examined. Anthocyanin content was correlated with antioxidant activity of methanol extracts prepared from wholemeal flour. In red and white grain wheat, the correlation coefficient between the antioxidant activity and polyphenol content was significant, furthermore, the difference in the mean antioxidant activity between white and red grain wheat was significant. Hard red spring wheat cultivar Haruyutaka was backcrossed to blue grain wheat Blue Dark to exclude the effects of the genetic background such as seed coat color. The antioxidant activity of BC7F4 seeds was significantly higher than that of Haruyutaka, and both antioxidant activity and anthocyanin content of the backcrossed seeds were not significantly different from those of Blue Dark. Furthermore, the seed dormancy of BC7F4 was significantly higher than that of Haruyutaka. Thus, it is confirmed that the blue grain character enhances the antioxidant activity and also seed dormancy.