Variation in levels of the flavone tricin in bran from rice genotypes varying in pericarp color

The flavone tricin has recently been shown to have numerous health benefits and has been proposed as a safe candidate for clinical trials of cancer prevention. One dietary source of tricin is rice bran. There are only a few reports of tricin levels in rice bran. Here we used LC/MS analysis of rice bran extracts to compare the tricin content, as well as some additional flavonoid components, of twenty rice bran samples from genotypes with light brown, brown, red, and purple pericarp coloring. There was a wide range in tricin levels among the samples, which ranged from 1.2 to 10.0 μg g⁻¹ bran. Overall, the purple pericarp genotypes had higher levels of tricin, as well as a broader range of flavonoid types. This is the first report of the flavone tricin in purple pericarp genotypes, which are well known for their anthocyanin pigments.