Variability of total soluble phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in a collection of tetraploid wheat

The total soluble phenolic compounds (TSPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) of 113 tetraploid wheat samples including cultivars, landraces, and wild accessions of different Triticum turgidum subspecies, were assessed to point out potential sources for cereal-based functional foods. TSPC ranged from 1.28 to 3.15 mg g(-1) as ferulic acid equivalents and AA, assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity test, ranged from 47.5% to 81.7%. Among cultivars of ssp. durum, the highest levels were observed in 'Timilia' and 'Svevo', while the ssp. dicoccoides showed the highest TSPC and AA among the accessions. The principal component analysis of data discriminated cultivars from wild accessions, and PC1 explained about 62% of variability. The TSPC were negatively correlated with thousand-kernel weight and grain yield per spike, while were positively correlated with AA, grain protein content, polyphenol oxidase activity, and brown index of whole meal and dough. The cultivar 'Langdon' coupled high TSPC and low brownness.