ASSESSMENT OF PHYTOCHEMICALS, ?-TOCOPHEROL, ?-CAROTENOID AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF WHEAT BRAN (TRITICUMAESTIVUM).

Wheat is one of the most important grain and dietary fiber across the worldand majority of its valuable antioxidant compounds are present in the germ/bran fractions.Wheat bran,by-product of wheat milling industry, holdsmany nutritionally beneficial phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. The current study was to investigate the total phenolic content, tocopherol content, and carotenoid profile for the phytochemical composition of wheat bran. DPPH free radical scavenging test was also performed for the measurement of antioxidant activity of wheat bran extract.For qualitative phytochemical screening, some chemicals standard tests were done which showed the presence of tannin and polyphenols, flavonoid, and saponin in the extract.In quantitative determination, total phenolic content (TPC) in methanolic extract weredetermined as8.97% of gram equivalent of gallic acid.Here we studied a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique for the determination of the content of tocopherols and carotenoid in the extract. In this study the concentration of ?-carotene in bran sample was 0.11µg/gmand value of tocopherol was 1.77µg/gm. The extract showed the presence of bio-active components which are kinetically active scavenger against DPPH under the testing conditions and accountable for the antioxidant activity.Results indicated that the wheat bran extract have potentials for serving as dietary sources of natural antioxidants and phenolic acids, and may contribute to total dietary tocopherols and carotenoids.