# Spelt Grass Juice: Phytochemicals and Antiproliferative Activity
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Phenolic Composition of Extracts
[10] found that sinapic (27.98 \(\upmu\)g/mL), protocatechuic (22.34 \(\upmu\)g/mL), caffeic (12.04 \(\upmu\)g/mL), and rosmarinic (11.32 \(\upmu\)g/mL) acids were present in the highest concentrations in fresh wheatgrass juice. Differently from these authors, [PERSON] et al. [9] identified pyrogallol, syringic acid, vanillic acid, and ferulic acid as the dominant phenolics. [PERSON] et al. [8] analyzed the phenolic profile of frozen wheatgrass juice, with catechin (341.1 \(\upmu\)g/mL) and ferulic acid (92.8 \(\upmu\)g/mL) being the dominant phenolics. Compared to our results (converted in same units: sinapic acid--1.59 \(\upmu\)g/mL, protocatechuic acid--9.93 \(\upmu\)g/mL, caffeic acid--3.65 \(\upmu\)g/mL, syringic acid--6.03 \(\upmu\)g/mL, vanillic acid--0.04 \(\upmu\)g/mL, and ferulic acid--75.56 \(\upmu\)g/mL), wheatgrass juice is considerably richer in these compounds. Previous studies on the phenolic profile of wheat and spelt grains have shown that the phenolic acids are strongly bound to the matrix and are effectively released during hydrolysis. The most common phenolic acids found in whole grains were as follows: ferulic acid (as predominant), vanillic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, and \(p\)-coumaric acid [25; 26]. [PERSON] et al. [26] found a significantly different content of ferulic acids in grains of spelt cultivars, with the highest value around 700 \(\upmu\)g/g DW. Overall, phenolic acids protect wheat grains by providing both physical and chemical barriers through carbohydrate cross-linking, antioxidant activity to combat destructive radicals, and astringency to prevent consumption by insects and animals. [PERSON] et al. [27] investigated older wheat species and found that the content of almost all free and bound phenolic acids was significantly higher in the einkorn (_Triticum monoccecum_ L.) than in emmer (_Triticum dicocon_ Schrank) and spelt (_Triticum spelta_ L.) wheat species. In whole spelt grain, the highest concentration of protocatechuic acid (in free phenolic fraction) was almost 90 \(\upmu\)g/g DW [26]. The phenolic compounds were analyzed in both acetone-water and methanol-water extracts, and the methanol-water extract was similar to the aqueous extract of spelt juice regarding total phenolics with values in the range of 3464-3601 \(\upmu\)g/g DW. Considering the individual phenolic compounds, the concentration of 14 compounds was lower and that of 8 compounds higher compared to the aqueous extract of spelt grass juice. The difference in the content of \(o\)-coumaric acid was especially high. The concentration in the methanol-water extract was about 30 times higher than in the aqueous extract. This is to be expected, due to the low solubility of \(o\)-coumaric acid in water. In the acetone extract, the content of total phenolics (around 2700 \(\upmu\)g/g DW) was significantly lower compared to the other extracts, as was the case for almost all compounds except \(o\)-coumaric acid and the ferulic acid derivative. The content of \(o\)-coumaric acid was even 60 times higher compared to aqueous extract of spelt grass juice.