The antioxidant capacity (AC) of pigmented cereal grains is associated with their nutraceutical value. The AC of grain from a diverse panel of maize genotypes with phenolic pigments was investigated. Our aims were to measure the AC of maize accessions with blue purple and red grain using the ABTS, DPPH and FRAP methods, and to determine which method was most sensitive to variation in phenolic grain compounds. Grain from 116 maize landraces with blue purple (BPMG), cherry red (CRMG) and brick red grain (BRMG) colors was used. Total soluble phenolics (TSP), total anthocyanin content (TAC), and proanthocyanidins (PAs) were determined. The TSP fraction was used to evaluate the AC of the maize accessions. The AC in BPMG and CRMG was highly related to TAC, whereas in BRMG it was associated with TSP. The highest variation in AC in each maize grain color was observed using the ABTS method, and the least variation was obtained by the DPPH method. The color of maize grain did not determine its AC, since samples with high AC were identified in all three groups. The most sensitive methods to detect variation in TAC with BPMG and CRMG maize were ABTS and FRAP, whereas for BRMG, the FRAP method was the most sensitive to variation in TSP.

有色谷物的抗氧化能力 (AC) 与其营养价值有关。研究了来自具有酚醛颜料的不同玉米基因型面板的谷物 AC。我们的目的是使用 ABTS、DPPH 和 FRAP 方法测量具有蓝紫色和红色籽粒的玉米种质的 AC，并确定哪种方法对酚类籽粒化合物的变化最敏感。使用来自 116 种玉米地方品种的谷物，具有蓝紫色 (BPMG)、樱桃红 (CRMG) 和砖红色谷物 (BRMG) 颜色。测定了总可溶性酚类物质 (TSP)、总花青素含量 (TAC) 和原花色素 (PA)。TSP 分数用于评估玉米种质的 AC。BPMG 和 CRMG 中的 AC 与 TAC 高度相关，而在 BRMG 中它与 TSP 相关。使用 ABTS 方法观察到每种玉米籽粒颜色中 AC 的最大变化，而通过 DPPH 方法获得的变化最小。玉米粒的颜色不能确定其 AC，因为在所有三组中都鉴定出具有高 AC 的样品。用 BPMG 和 CRMG 玉米检测 TAC 变异的最敏感方法是 ABTS 和 FRAP，而对于 BRMG，FRAP 方法对 TSP 变异最敏感。