Elemental and macromolecular profile of wheatgrass in different cultivation setups

Abstract

Natural compounds and products are increasingly demanded by the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries as safer and user friendly alternatives to synthetic variants. Young wheat plantlets, known as wheatgrass, are a valuable source of minerals, vitamins and chlorophyll pigments and the biosynthesis of such compounds may be influenced by the cultivation conditions. The present study focuses onto the chemical profile, mineral and chlorophyll content of cultivated wheatgrass using two different types of water (spring or drilling water). An additional objective was to determine if two different cultivation conditions (soil or hydroponic) may influence chlorophyll synthesis in wheatgrass. The chemical composition of wheatgrass was evaluated by Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy (FTIR). Surface morphological characteristics and elemental composition were visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDX). Chlorophyll type pigments were evaluated by HPLC-MS analyses in acetone extracts.