Effect of pH and chlorine concentration of slightly acidic electrolyzed water on the buckwheat sprouts during germination

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Previous research found that slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) promoted the growth of buckwheat sprouts and the accumulation of bioactive γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), but mechanisms had not been reported. At present study, the effects of pH and available chlorine concentration (ACC) of SAEW on buckwheat sprouts were investigated. It showed that SAEW1 with moderate pH (5.71 ± 0.03) resulted in the highest accumulation of GABA ((113.5 mg/100 g) in comparison with SAEW 2 (pH 5.01 ± 0.05) and SAEW 3 (pH 6.41 ± 0.04) treatments. Moreover, the higher ACC of SAEW was, the more content of GABA it accumulated, which suggested that ACC played an important role during germination of buckwheat. The above results were demonstrated by the investigation of glutamic acid decarboxylase activity during germination of buckwheat. However, it showed that higher ACC of SAEW had adverse impact on the growth of buckwheat sprouts while pH of SAEW had no adverse impact on the growth of buckwheat sprouts. Generally, appropriate pH and ACC of SAEW should be considered in the application of the production of buckwheat sprouts. Practical applications SAEW that had neutral pH (5.0–6.5) and lower ACC (10–30 mg/L) had been used in the production of sprouts. SAEW could promote the dual accumulation of GABA and rutin in tartary buckwheat sprouts. Obtaining the specific parameters of SAEW would beneficial for the most accumulation of these functional components when it is used for sprouts production.