Oat milling fractions were examined for concentrations of total phenolics, tocols, and phenolic acids and in vitro antioxidant activity to determine their potential as dietary antioxidants. Methanolic extracts of pearling fractions, flour and aspirations from flaking, and trichomes had high, intermediate, and low antioxidant activities, respectively, evaluated by the beta-carotene bleaching method. Pearling fractions were also highest in total phenolics and tocols. p-Hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid were identified and quantified by HPLC. Three avenanthramides and an unidentified ferulate derivative were also detected. Total phenolic content was significantly correlated with antioxidant activity, and regression equations that predicted antioxidant activity from phenolic and tocol concentrations were calculated. Antioxidant activity, evaluated by beta-carotene bleaching, was correlated with measures of oxygen radical absorbance capacity and low-density lipoprotein oxidation. These data indicate a potential for oat products, especially those enriched in outer layers of the groat, to contribute to dietary intakes of antioxidant phytonutrients.

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VAN, and avenanthramide contents. Concentration ranges of three of the avenanthramides were 21 to 62 mg Phenolic compounds in oat (Avena sativa L.) may have healthkg Ϫ1 , which were 10-to 30-fold greater than those of promoting effects on humans due to their antioxidant or other properties. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of cultivar the simple phenolics (FA, CA, PCA, and VAN), which and location on phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of alcohol-ranged from about 1.3 to 2.7 mg kg Ϫ1 . No information is soluble extracts from oat groats. Antioxidant activities (AOA) and available concerning environmental effects on phenolic concentrations of eight phenolic compounds having AOA were meacontents of oat. Genetic and environmental effects on sured in three cultivars grown at seven locations in Wisconsin during AOA of oat extracts have not been reported in the 1998. There were significant differences among cultivars for AOA, literature. The concentrations of tocols, which are concentrations of all of the phenolic compounds measured except known to have AOA, were significantly affected by p-coumaric and ferulic acids, and for total free phenolic contents genotype and location (Peterson and Qureshi 1993). (FPC). Location significantly affected the concentrations of five ofThe objective of this study was to evaluate the relative the phenolics and total FPC, but did not affect AOA. There were importance of cultivars, locations, and their interaction significant cultivar ϫ location interactions for the concentrations of avenanthramides and for total FPC. The unexpectedly high concentra-Abbreviations: AOA, antioxidant activity; ARL, Arlington; ASH,

Research was initiated to measure antioxidant activity of extracts from oat (Avena sativa L.) groats and hulls and the concentrations of phenolic substances that may contribute to antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts of four cultivars was evaluated by an in vitro assay that measures the inhibition of coupled autoxidation of linoleic acid and β‐carotene. Total phenolic content was determined using Folin and Ciocalteau's phenol reagent and was expressed as gallic acid equivalents. Phenolic compounds were separated by reversed‐phase HPLC and detected at 290 nm. Peaks were identified by comparing retention times and spectra with known standards and verified with internal standards. Groats had significantly higher antioxidant activity than hulls. For two cultivars, total phenolic content was similar in groats and hulls, whereas one cultivar had higher and another lower total phenolic content in groats than hulls. Ten phenolic compounds were separated and identified in extracts, and one flavan‐3‐ol and three avenanthramides were tentatively identified. The concentrations of many of these compounds differed among cultivars and between fractions. In general, caffeic acid and the avenanthramides were predominantly found in groats, whereas many of the other phenolics were present in greater concentrations in hulls.

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Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cultivars and breeding lines were evaluated in the field for incidence and severity of cuticle cracking (CC) over four spring seasons at Bradenton, Fla. Resistant and susceptible genotypes were identified and easily distinguished by incidence of CC. When studied over 2 years, the amount of rain during the entire 14 days before harvest was more highly correlated with CC incidence than the amount of rain during the entire growing season or during 1 to 7 or 8 to 14 days before harvest. Attempts to induce CC by pruning leaves or fruit from plants were not successful. The incidence of CC was significantly higher for fruit from unstaked plants (39%) compared to fruit on staked plants (10%). Fruit exposed to direct sunlight, from plants that were staked and not pruned, had significantly greater incidence of CC (49%) than fruit protected by leaf cover (20%). Of 218 fruit monitored for affect of developmental stage on occurrence of CC, 62 developed CC. Of these 2%, 61%, 27%, and 10% first exhibited CC at immature-green, mature-green, breaker, and red stages, respectively. For 58% of fruit with CC, no increase in CC severity was observed as the fruit ripened. Increases in CC severity were observed more often between mature-green and breaker than between breaker and table-ripe stages of ripening.

Genetic control of cuticle cracking (CC) in tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) was studied using half-diallel analyses and reciprocal hybrid comparisons of five parents and reciprocal F1 hybrids over 3 years in Bradenton, Fla. Maternal effects were usually not significant, but in general, CC incidence in hybrids with a resistant cultigen as the female parent was lower than if the resistant cultigen was the male parent. General combining ability (GCA) was significant at all harvests, with specific combining ability (SCA) becoming significant under high environmental stress. Narrow-sense and broad-sense heritabilities for CC incidence ranged from 0.45 to 0.69 and 0.62 to 0.89, respectively, increasing directly with environmental stress.

Ten tomato cultigens were crossed with L. peruvianum accessions PI 126443 and PI 129152. Fruit (536 total) were harvested between 15 and 65 days after anthesis (DAA). Culturable embryos were obtained from 13% of the fruit. There were 140 embryos plated, from which 36 plants were obtained (7% of fruit, 26% of embryos plated). 'Campbell 28', Fla. 7217, and Fla. 7182 were the most efficient tomato lines for producing F1 plants, there was no difference between the L. peruvianum accessions. No embryos were obtained beyond 57 DAA. No trend in embryo viability was detected between 15 and 56 DAA. Of 248 backcross fruit, 94 embryos were plated (38% of fruit) and 15 plants were obtained (6% of fruit, 16% of embryos plated). Female parents with the best percentage of plants per fruit crossed were Fla. 7217, Fla. 7215, and 'Campbell 28' with 15, 8, and 7%, respectively. No plants were obtained from 45 crosses on Fla. 7182.