Determination of etherified hydroxycinnamic acids in cell walls of grasses

• Published in: Phytochemistry (Oxford) Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 773 - 775
• Main Authors: Bach Tuyet Lam, Thi, Iiyama, Kenji, Stone, Bruce A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 1994; Elsevier
• Subjects: acid hydrolysis; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; alkaline hydrolysis; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical constitution; Economic plant physiology; ether-linkage; ferulic acid; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glass reaction vessel; hydroxycinnamic acid; p-coumaric acid; Plant physiology and development; Poaceae; ether-linkage; ferulic acid; Poaceae; p-coumaric acid; alkaline hydrolysis; acid hydrolysis; hydroxycinnamic acid; glass reaction vessel; Monocotyledones; Method; Cinnamic acid(4-hydroxy 3-methoxy); Cereal crop; Cell wall; Hydrolysis; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Acid digestion; Spermatophyta; Chemical composition; Cinnamic acid(hydroxy); Comparative study; Triticum aestivum; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0031-9422; 1873-3700
• DOI: 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)89815-5

A comparison is made between acid and alkaline treatments for the measurement of total amounts of ether- plus ester-linked hydroxycinnamic acids associated with extract-free wheat internodes. Although acid hydrolysis in a mixture of dioxane-2M HCI (9:1 by volume) under reflux for 2 hr releases most of the esterified ferulic acid (FA), considerable amounts of both esterified and etherified p-coumaric acids (PCA) and etherified FA remain. In addition, under these conditions, there are substantial losses of released PCA and FA (82 and 92%, respectively), and probably also of acids bound to wall polymers. These factors make the acid digestion procedure unsuitable for quantitative analyses. Alkaline hydrolysis at 170° with 4 M NAOH in stainless steel reaction vessels, although also leading to significant losses of released hydroxycinnamic acids, is the preferred method for measuring etherified hydroxycinnamic acids.