Impact of yacon landraces cultivated in the Czech Republic and their ploidy on the short- and long-chain fructooligosaccharides content in tuberous roots

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are important tuberous root constituents of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) with beneficial nutritional and prebiotic effects on human health. That is why landraces originally cultivated in Andes are explored with the aim to obtain new ones with high FOS content. In this study eighteen octoploid andfive dodecaploid landraces were for thefirst time evaluated in terms of their tuberous root contents of short-chain fructooligosaccharides GF3-GF10 (Sc-FOS) and long-chain fruc-tooligosaccharides >GF10 (Lc-FOS) by high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAE-PAD). Significant differences between individual landraces were found; eleven of them contained high Sc-FOS and Lc-FOS, whilst twelve showed low Lc-FOS contents. Com-parison of octoploid and dodecaploid groups showed that degree of ploidy level can affect FOS content and the distribution according to degree of polymerisation. High correlations between the contents of Sc-FOS, Lc-FOS and total carbohydrates (r 2 ¼0.97,r 2 ¼0.98 andr 2 ¼0.95, respectively) have been found

Screening of the Chemical Composition and Identification of Hyaluronic Acid in Food Supplements by Fractionation and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Hyaluronic acid, together with collagen, vitamins or plant extracts, is a part of many cosmetic and food preparations. For example, this polysaccharide is used in formulation of many food supplements due to its protective effects on human health. In this work, the screening of the chemical composition of three chosen dietary supplements (powder, tablets and capsules) containing hyaluronic acid was carried out using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Because of the low amount of analyte in all these samples, it was isolated or concentrated prior to the analysis using a suitable sequential fractionation protocol. Individual isolation procedures were established for each sample based on their declared composition. Firstly, the major components such as collagen or vitamins were removed to obtain polysaccharide fractions by the enzymatic treatment and/or washing out with the appropriate solvents. In some cases, the water insoluble part was removed from the rest dissolved in water. Then, hyaluronic acid was precipitated with copper(II) cations and thus separated from the other polysaccharides. Finally, the analyte was identified in the enriched fractions by the characteristic vibrational bands. The amount of hyaluronic acid in the purified fractions was determined in three ways: gravimetrically, spectrophotometrically, and using isotachophoresis. The combination of the appropriate preparative and analytical steps led to the successful evaluation of chemical composition, finding and quantification of hyaluronic acid in all the studied samples

Variability in phytic acid content in barley grain.

Around 65 % of phosphorus (P) in barley grain is in the form of phytic acid (PA) and phytates (PA salts), both forms negatively affect the usability of mineral substances and other important nutrients, thus participating in mineral deficiencies in human as well as livestock nutrition, and contributing to the pollution of the environment. Detection and creation of new varieties with a changed rate of both P forms in favor of digestible phosphate (Pi) is one of possible solutions. The submitted study dealt with the evaluation of variability in contents of PA and Pi in grains of selected spring and winter barley varieties, genetic resources and new spring barley lines created by hybridization with so-called "lpa" chemo-mutants - donors of low PA content (M422, M1070, M635, and M955). Variability in the content of both P forms in spring barley was affected by year and only if the assessed set included lpa mutants also by a genotype. In spite of high year variability, Pi/ PA rate in lpa mutants remained nearly the same (from 138.4 % in M422 to 772.1 % in M955), while in the standard varieties it was on average only 31.3 %. The comparison of winter and spring barley varieties proved that winter varieties have a strong tendency to a higher accumulation of P in grain in the PA form (12.42 mg.g-1 vs. 10.94 mg.g-1). The screening method developed for the evaluation of free P content in grain using the colorimetric test (CT) allowed to perform a more extensive selection of materials with different PA and Pi contents. A strong positive correlation was calculated between the results obtained by the CT and classically determined Pi (r = 0.85**, P≤0.01). On the other hand, the use of existing molecular markers (SCAR marker ABC153) for the detection of crosses with reduced PA content in grain was not very effective. Crossing with lpa mutants and following selection using the CT led to creation of new lines of spring barley with reduced PA content, increased Pi rate and comparable total P content in a caryopsis, which can be used in breeding or further research. A new line KM2881.622.2.07 where an increased content of free P is connected with a waxy starch character (reduced portion of polysaccharide amylose) can be a new interesting gene resource for the development of food barley varieties.Around 65 % of phosphorus (P) in barley grain is in the form of phytic acid (PA) and phytates (PA salts), both forms negatively affect the usability of mineral substances and other important nutrients, thus participating in mineral deficiencies in human as well as livestock nutrition, and contributing to the pollution of the environment. Detection and creation of new varieties with a changed rate of both P forms in favor of digestible phosphate (Pi) is one of possible solutions. The submitted study dealt with the evaluation of variability in contents of PA and Pi in grains of selected spring and winter barley varieties, genetic resources and new spring barley lines created by hybridization with so-called "lpa" chemo-mutants - donors of low PA content (M422, M1070, M635, and M955). Variability in the content of both P forms in spring barley was affected by year and only if the assessed set included lpa mutants also by a genotype. In spite of high year variability, Pi/ PA rate in lpa mutants remai