Influence of phenolic acid content on the antioxidant capacity of hemicellulose from sorghum plant fractions

Recovered hemicellulose fractions from biorefineries have the potential to improve overall process economics during the production of biofuels or other high value chemicals. A common hemicellulose found in many agricultural feedstocks is arabinoxylan (AX). This work investigated the influence of ferulic and p-coumaric acids on the antioxidant capability of AX hemicellulose recovered from sorghum bran, biomass, and bagasse. Sorghum bagasse and sorghum biomass AX contained the largest quantities of bound ferulic and p-coumaric acids at 13.1 mg/100 g and 6.3 mg/100 g, respectively. Antioxidant performance showed that sorghum bagasse AX hemicellulose produced the best reducing capability, while sorghum biomass and sorghum bran AX hemicellulose performed better as free radical scavengers. A reduction in free radical scavenging, as determined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, occurred for sorghum bagasse and sorghum biomass AX hemicellulose at higher polysaccharide concentrations, which was either caused by the solution properties of the AX hemicelluloses or DPPH reaction reversibility in the presence of phenolic compounds with methoxy content. Alternatively, H2O2 scavenging by the AX hemicellulose revealed a dose-dependent response. Although scavenging effect was reduced at higher concentrations, sorghum bagasse AX hemicellulose functioned as having the best antioxidant capacity with respect to total reducing capability.