comparative study on free and bound phenolic acid content and their antioxidant activity in bran of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars of Eastern Himalayan range

In our study, seven most prevailing but unexplored indigenous rice cultivars of northeast India, situated in the Eastern Himalayan Range, were investigated for their phenolic acid profile, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacities in free and bound phenolic extracts of their bran. HPLC studies showed the presence of ferulic, p‐coumaric, sinapic, caffeic, chlorogenic and vanillic acids, with ferulic and p‐coumaric acids being the dominant phenolic acids in the bound form. The lower EC₅₀ values of the bound extracts than the free extracts suggested the better radical scavenging activity of the bound extracts. Significant correlations were observed between TPC and phenolic acid content (HPLC‐DAD) of bound extracts, and between Trolox equivalents antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and phenolic acid content (HPLC‐DAD) of both free and bound extracts. The findings suggest that phenolic acids in the rice cultivars investigated were exclusively present in bound form and contribute significantly towards their antioxidant capacity.