Compositional Analysis of Chinese Water Chestnut ( Eleocharis dulcis ) Cell-Wall Material from Parenchyma, Epidermis, and Subepidermal Tissues

Grassby T., Jay A., Merali Z., Parker M., Parr A., Faulds C., Waldron K. W.. (2013)

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry , 61, 9680-9688

Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis (Burman f.) Trin ex Henschel) is a corm consumed globally in Oriental-style cuisine.  The corm consists of three main tissues, the epidermis, sub-epidermis and parenchyma; the cell walls of which were analyzed for sugar, phenolic and lignin content.  Sugar content, measured by GC, was higher in the parenchyma cell walls (931 µg/mg) than in the sub-epidermis (775 µg/mg) or epidermis (685 µg/mg).  The alkali-extractable phenolic content, measured by HPLC, was greater in the epidermal (32.4 µg/mg) and sub-epidermal cell walls (21.7 µg/mg) than in the cell walls of parenchyma (12.3 µg/mg).  The proportion of diferulic acids was higher in the parenchyma.  The Klason lignin content of epidermal and sub-epidermal cell walls was ~15%.  Methylation analysis of Chinese water chestnut cell-wall polysaccharides identified xyloglucan as the predominant hemicellulose in the parenchyma for the first time, and also a significant pectin component, similar to other non-graminaceous monocots.

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry , 61, 9680-9688

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