American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 31, S90-S93, Copyright © 1978 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

The lignin fraction of plant cell walls

RD Hartley

Methods are discussed for determining lignin in plant cell walls. The increase in apparent lignin content that may occur as a result of artifacts produced during food preparation is also discussed. The phenolic components, including lignin, of cell walls separated from 12 vegetable, fruit, and cereal foods are determined. Wheat bran, on a fresh weight basis, had a high cell wall content (48.6%) compared with the vegetables and fruit whose contents ranged from 1.0 to 6.0%. Wheat bran and spinach cell walls had the highest lignin contents (11.4 and 4.4%, respectively) and the lowest degradabilities (35.8 and 39.6%, respectively) as determined by a cellulase technique. Cell walls of spinach, beetroot, sweet corn, pineapple, and wheat bran contained the phenolic acids (ferulic, p-coumaric, and diferulic) bound to polysaccharide components. Cell walls of cabbage, Brussels sprout, celery, cauliflower, green bean, carrot, and pea contained only traces of these acids.