Evaluation of Ogolcho and Kingbird Bread Wheat (Triticum Aestivum) Varieties for Wheatgrass Juice Content

Wheatgrass juice is the young grass of the common wheat plant that is freshly pressed for human consumption. The main aim of this research work is to evaluate bread wheat varieties for wheatgrass juice content of two selected wheat varieties (Ogolcho and Kingbird) grown in Ethiopia. The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized design with wheat varieties as the factor of two levels (Ogolcho and Kingbird). The results showed that the total chlorophyll (71.47 mg/100 g and 62.68 mg/100 g), protein (3.30% and 3.59%), and total ash (1.40% and 1.03%) of the wheatgrass juices were for Ogolcho and Kingbird varieties, respectively. Minerals (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P and Zn) contents of wheatgrass juice variety were 36.2, 0.5, 503.4, 23.18, 8.6, 72.94 and 0.32 mg/100 g for Ogolcho variety and 35.8, 0.4, 395, 23.51, 7.8, 64.18 and 0.42 mg/100 g for Kingbird variety. The vitamins (A, C, D_3, and E) were 0.15, 36.35, 0.018, and 0.244 mg/100 g in the juice of the Ogolcho variety while for the Kingbird variety were 0.15, 31.65, 0.018, and 0.236 mg/100g, respectively. The experimental analysis indicated that the number of majority parameters showed a significant difference (p≤0.05) in the mean value of parameters. The result indicated that wheatgrass juice was high in nutrient composition than wheat grain (). Hence, the consumption of wheatgrass in the form of juice is beneficial in keeping away several health problems.