The anthocyanin content of blue and purple coloured wheat cultivars and their hybrid generations

The anthocyanin content of spring and winter wheat cultivars and their hybrids with purple and blue coloured grains was evaluated under Hungarian growing conditions. In all 3 years the anthocyanin content of blue grained wheats was significantly higher than that of purple ones. Anthocyanin content was influenced by environmental factors. In the progenies of crosses between Hungarian hard red winter wheat cultivars and blue-grained varieties, the anthocyanin content of the grind was 21–157 mg/kg, while that of the flour was 5.3–17.4 mg/kg. Consequently, most of the anthocyanin content was in the bran. The high anthocyanin content of blue and purple wheat varieties can be applied successfully for elevating the anthocyanin content of bakery products if whole-meal flour or bran is used