Abstract
The influence of pulsed electric field (PEF) (0.5–2 kV/cm) treatment of wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum L.) seeds, with different water contents, on antioxidant metabolism in the resultant seedlings was investigated. Imbibing seeds to a water content of 45% or greater prior to PEF treatment increased the glutathione level and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase in the resultant seedlings, compared to untreated controls. Pre-culture of human intestinal Caco-2 cells with simulated gastrointestinal digests of electrostimulated seedlings enhanced the ability of Caco-2 cells to cope with H2O2-induced oxidative damage, determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays. The Caco-2 cell MTT and LDH assays correlated better with the increases in seedling glutathione content and antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) total antioxidant capacity assay, an assay commonly used to determine the ability of plant extracts to protect cells from oxidative damage. These results demonstrate for the first time that PEF treatment of imbibed seeds can stimulate changes in metabolism in the resultant seedlings, increasing the bioprotective potential of their shoots/sprouts and hence value as functional foods.
Highlights
IntroductionTreatment of plant-based food products with pulse electric fields (PEF) is a commercially used food processing technology that can be apply in a batch mode or in a continuous mode that allows large volumes of material to be reliably processed
In this study we investigated if exposure of imbibing wheatgrass seeds to non-lethal pulse electric fields (PEF) treatments could trigger a stress response in the resultant seedlings, and create a functional food with an enhanced bioprotective capacity
The present study clearly demonstrated that, providing the water content of the seed at the time of PEF treatment was 25% fresh weight (FW) or greater, PEF treatment of wheatgrass seeds at an electric field strength of 2 kV/cm stimulated an increase in antioxidant metabolism, with increased glutathione levels and increases in the activities of several enzymes associated with antioxidant metabolism in plant cells, with only a slight inhibition of growth potential
Summary
Treatment of plant-based food products with pulse electric fields (PEF) is a commercially used food processing technology that can be apply in a batch mode or in a continuous mode that allows large volumes of material to be reliably processed. In this study we investigated if exposure of imbibing wheatgrass seeds to non-lethal PEF treatments could trigger a stress response in the resultant seedlings, and create a functional food with an enhanced bioprotective capacity. To achieve this we investigated the key factors that could potentially influence the response of wheatgrass seeds to PEF, e.g. the water content of the seed and the PEF electric field strength applied. The health of the Caco-2 cells was assessed using standard methodologies
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