The effect of lutein esterification on the carotenoid distribution profile in the different fractions of tritordeum grains was studied. Durum wheat, a cereal lacking of lutein esters, was included for comparison in the study. Although carotenoid contents in endosperm and germ were significantly different for both cereals, the pigment distribution showed a marked dependence on the cereal's genetic background. Thus pigment content in durum wheat was 3 times higher in germ (2.52 μg/g fresh weight (fw)) than the endosperm (0.74 μg/g fw). In contrast, carotenoids in tritordeum were distributed more homogeneously (4.16 and 4.59 μg/g fw for germ and endosperm, respectively). Lutein esters were exclusively present in tritordeum fractions, with a 3-fold higher content in the endosperm, which suggests a preferential esterifying activity in this tissue. The fatty acid profile indicated that the presence of lutein esters could be limited by the existence of specific XAT (xanthophyll acyltransferase) enzymes and not by substrate availability. A positive impact of esterification on the even deposition pattern of pigments throughout the tritordeum grain was observed. These data could be useful for optimizing the retention of lutein through the food chain as well as to direct the breeding of crops enriched in lutein esters.

This work was supported by funding from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spanish Government, Project AGL2010-14850/ALI), from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spanish Government, Project AGL2014-53195R) and from the Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo (Junta de Andalucía, Project P08-AGR-03477), including FEDER funding. EMO was the recipient of a JAE-Predoctoral grant (CSIC) co-financed by the ESF. DHM is member of CaRed Network funded by MINECO (BIO2015-71703-REDT). We are grateful to Dr. Sergio G. Atienza (IAS-CSIC) for providing the plant material, and to Dr. Ruth Stuckey for language manuscript editing.

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