In wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) grains, TAXI- (T. aestivum xylanase inhibitor), XIP- (xylanase inhibiting protein), and TLXI-type (thaumatin-like xylanase inhibitor) xylanase inhibitors (XIs) are expressed in considerable levels and under different forms. As these proteins have a significant impact on microbial xylanases frequently used in cereal-based biotechnological processes, knowledge of their quantitative and qualitative variability in wheat is of great interest. This paper reports the successful use of immunoquantification by Western blotting to determine the intercultivar variation in the three structurally different classes of XIs, as well as their distribution among various industrial milling fractions. TAXI and XIP protein levels in eight wheat cultivars ranged from 81 to 190 ppm and from 156 to 371 ppm, with average values of 133 and 235 ppm, respectively. Using immunoblotting, TLXI protein levels could be measured directly for the first time. They ranged from 51 to 150 ppm and amounted to 112 ppm on average. The three classes of XIs were distributed among different wheat milling fractions in a similar way, with 4 and 10 times higher concentrations in the aleurone-enriched fraction than in white flour and pericarp fractions, respectively. Immunoblot patterns suggested that the observed intercultivar and spatial variabilities within the wheat grain are not due to the presence or absence of specific members of the large polymorphic XI families but to differences in the overall level and/or proportions of the specific members.

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