Abstract
Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FA) play an essential role in human physiology and health. As a result, a variety of n-3 FA-fortified functional foods have become commercially available for human consumption. These fortified functional foods are created through various processes; however, nutri-priming, a potentially promising fortification approach, has not been utilized to develop plant-based n-3 fortified foods. We sought to determine whether nutri-priming is a viable option to enrich seeds and sprouts with n-3 FA. Additionally, we assessed whether n-3 FA nutri-priming would inhibit germination of the primed seeds. To address these goals, we nutri-primed brown flax in three priming solutions, control [0% fish oil (FO)], 10% FO and a 20% FO solution, and determined the FA content and profile of seeds and sprouts and germination percentage of primed seeds. n-3 FA nutri-priming with FO altered the FA profile in seeds and sprouts, with increases in the absolute content of 20:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3, 22:5 n3, 18:4 n-3, and 20:4 n-6. However, n-3 FA nutri-priming did not increase the absolute content of 18:2 n-6, 18:3 n-3, total saturated FA, total monounsaturated FA, total polyunsaturated FA, total n-6 FA, or total n-3 FA. Our results also showed that n-3 nutri-priming decreased the germination percentage of primed seeds, with 10 and 20% FO priming solution reducing germination by 4.3 and 6.2%, respectively. Collectively, n-3 nutri-priming modified the n-3 FA profile in flax; however, the process does not increase the total n-3 FA content and inhibits germination of primed seeds. Further research utilizing different seed types, oil types, and oil concentrations needs to be conducted to fully determine if n-3 nutri-priming is a commercially viable approach for n-3 fortification of seeds and sprouts.
Highlights
Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FA) are polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) that play an important role in human physiology and health [1]. n-3 FA are key components of the cell membrane’s phospholipid bilayer, which provide protection and structure for cells [1]
The FA driving clustering differences were primarily eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5 n3), stearidonic acid (SDA, 18:4 n-3), and arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4 n-6) (Supplemental Figure 1). When comparing these FA independently, an increase of absolute content of EPA, DHA, DPA, SDA, and AA was seen in seeds and sprouts for both 10% and 20% fish oil (FO) groups when compared to the control group (Table 1, Figure 2)
Despite increases in fish-derived FA, the absolute content of linoleic acid (LA), alpha-linolenic acid (LNA), total FA (ΣFA), total saturated FA (ΣSFA), total monounsaturated FA (ΣMUFA), ΣPUFA, total n-6 FA (Σn-6 FA), and Σn3 FA did not increase as a result of n-3 FA nutri-priming (Table 1)
Summary
Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FA) are polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) that play an important role in human physiology and health [1]. n-3 FA are key components of the cell membrane’s phospholipid bilayer, which provide protection and structure for cells [1]. Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FA) are polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) that play an important role in human physiology and health [1]. Alpha-linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3 n-3) is an essential n-3 FA that cannot be biosynthesized by humans and must be obtained by diet. As a result of n-3 FA having a key role in human health, and diet being the primary source of certain n-3 FA, a wide variety of functional foods (i.e., foods that possess positive human health benefits in addition to basic nutrition) enriched with n-3 FA have become commercially available [5, 6], such as n-3 fortified milk [7, 8] and eggs [9,10,11]
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