title: High-throughput micro-plate HCI-vanillin assay for screening tannin content in sorghum grain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The HCI-vanillin assay is a well-accepted method for determining tannin content in sorghum but is limited to small sample sets due to the time-consuming nature of the method. The objective was to develop an accurate and repeatable high-throughput 96-well plate assay for breeders to screen large sample sets of sorghum for tannin content. Validation of the high-throughput assay was tested on 25 sorghums suspected to contain tannin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 30 measurements per day were completed using the conventional assay compared to 224 measurements using the 96-well platform. The correlation between the two tannin assays was 0.98. The coefficient of variation (CV) was 3.54% and 3.21% for the 96-well and conventional method, respectively. The 96-well assay exhibited good repeatability, with the inter-plate CV between 2.77% and 4.85%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high-throughput 96-well HCI-vanillin assay exhibited an eightfold increase in the number of measurements completed and was as accurate as the conventional HCI-vanillin assay.
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Herald
authors.forename: Priyadarshini
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gadgil
authors.forename: Ramasamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perumal
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Bean
authors.forename: Jeff D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000032:analysis*; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000737:chemistry*; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D045868:Sorghum / Q000737:chemistry*; D013634:Tannins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001547:Benzaldehydes; D013634:Tannins; C100058:vanillin
keywords: 96-well plate; sorghum; tannin; vanillin