Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Benzoxazinoids BXDs are plant specialized metabolites exerting a pivotal role in plant nutrition, allelopathy, and defenses. Multihexose benzoxazinoids were previously observed in cereal-based food products such as whole-grain bread.
However, their production in plants and exact structure have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we showed that drought induced the production of di-, tri-, and even tetrahexose BXDs in maize roots and leaves. The induction was common among several maize lines and the strongest in seven-day-old seedlings.
This work provides ground to further characterize the BXD synthetic pathway, its relevance in maize-environment interactions, and its impact on human health.
Benzoxazinoids BXDs are plant specialized metabolites that modulate plant nutrition, reproduction, interactions with microbes, and defenses against herbivores. BXDs include benzoxazolinones with a 1,3-benzoxazolone core structure and benzoxazinones, possessing a 1,4-benzoxazinone scaffold.
In wheat, both species can be found in similar amounts. BXDs can transition from plants to the human food supply, where they can impact human health. Here, we demonstrate that drought enhances the production of multihexose BXDs in maize root and shoot tissues. We conducted an extensive nuclear magnetic resonance NMR study to determine the nature and configuration of the multihexose chains. We then characterized their induction patterns and kinetics in different maize tissues. Understanding the structure of these multihexose BXDs is pivotal for enabling their inclusion in analytical methods, enhancing our ability to monitor their presence and impact on food quality and human nutrition.
