Chemical, biochemical, and biological significance of polyphenols in cereals and legumes.

Polyphenols in cereals and legumes have been receiving considerable attention largely because of their adverse influence on color, flavor, and nutritional quality. These compounds belong to the flavonoid and tannin groups and are mostly located in the seed coat or pericarp of the grains. The pearl millet flavonoids have been identified as C-glycosylflavones by the combined use of paper chromatography and UV spectroscopy. Although nontoxic, physiological and nutritional significance of these compounds occurring in high amounts in the pearl millet grain are still not clearly understood. In view of aesthetic quality, bleaching of the millet grains in acidic solution is recommended. A large proportion of current assays involves spectrophotometry of tannin or its chromogen and tannin-protein interaction. Sorghum and legume tannins have been characterized as condensed tannins. Several factors such as plant type, age of the plant or plant parts, stage of development, and environmental conditions govern the polyphenol contents in plants. Polyphenols are known to interact with proteins and form tannin-protein complexes leading to either inactivation of enzymes or making proteins insoluble. These are implicated in decreasing the activities of digestive enzymes, protein and amino acid availabilities, mineral uptake, vitamin metabolism, and depression of growth. Polyphenols are known to cause certain ultrastructural changes in the different parts of experimental animals. A correlation between dietary tannins and occurrence of esophageal cancer has been established. Bird resistance and seed germination in food crops have been correlated to high contents of polyphenols. The antinutritional activity of polyphenols can be reduced by removing polyphenols from the grains by chemical treatments or removing pericarp and testa by pearling. Treatment of alkaline reagents and ammonia can remove 90% of the polyphenols. Supplementation of polyphenols-rich diet with protein can alleviate the growth-depressing effect of polyphenols.