Superoxide Dismutase in Spring Barley Caryopses

Abstract

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was determined in caryopses of spring barley grown in field trials in 2004–2006. A total set under study included five malting varieties with hulled grain, three waxy hull-less and hulled varieties (of US origin), seven lines formed by crossing of the above given varieties and four hull-less lines of Czech origin. SOD activity was determined by a modified method using a Ransod diagnostic kit (RANDOX). The method employs xanthine and xanthine oxidase to generate superoxide radicals which react with 2-(4-iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenol)-5-phenyltetrazolium chloride (INT) to form a red formazan dye. Statistically significantly higher activity was measured in the variety Nordus (131 U.g−1 d.m.) and line ME1 (128 U.g−1 d.m.) compared to the other varieties/lines (66–111 U.g−1 d.m.). The line ME1 had significantly higher SOD activity in grain versus its parental varieties Kompakt (83 U.g−1 d.m.) and Krona (78 U.g−1 d.m.). The results of this study proved the availability of varieties/lines with a higher SOD content, the antioxidant effect of SOD can improve quality of beer and food made from barley.