A quantitative extension of the phenol test to assist in the identification of cereal varieties

✍ Scribed by Phillip T. Crisp; Colin W. Wrigley

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1974
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 300 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5142
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2740250311

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A procedure is described for quantitation of results from the phenol test, an established qualitative procedure for checking purity and identity of grain samples. After grains have reacted with phenol, the extent of browning is determined by boiling the grains for 20 minutes in alkaline buffer and by estimating the brown coloration of the extract photometrically. Results are expressed as the phenol ratio which is calculated by dividing the absorbance of this extract by the absorbance of a similarly prepared extract of grains untreated with phenol. The phenol ratio is virtually independent of grain size and is useful in characterising the genotype of a grain sample.