Variability in arabinoxylan, xylanase activity and xylanase inhibitor levels in hard spring wheat

Arabinoxylans (AX), xylanase, and xylanase inhibitors have an important role in many cereal food processing applications. The effect of growing location (L), genotype (G), and their interactions (L*G) on AX, apparent xylanase and apparent xylanase inhibition activities of Triticum aestivum xylanase inhibitor (TAXI) and xylanases inhibiting protein (XIP) of wheat was studied using six hard red spring wheat and six hard white spring wheat genotypes. Total AX content was largely dependent on L*G. In bran, xylanase activity, 25% of the variability could be attributed to L*G interaction. Genotype contributed 72% to the variability in TAXI activity indicating TAXI activity in wheat bran is largely under genetic control. The bran TAXI level and XIP level varied by a factor of 700 and 3000, respectively, among genotypes. These results enable the industry to choose between different wheat varieties with varying xylanase activities to complement its intended use.