Abstract
The increasing demand for healthy food products has promoted the use of germinated seeds to produce functional flours. In this study, germination conditions were optimized in barley grains with the aim to produce flours with high nutritional and biofunctional potential using response surface methodology (RSM). The impact of germination time (0.8–6 days) and temperature (12–20 °C) on barley quality was studied. Non-germinated barley was used as the control. The content of vitamins B1, B2 and C, and proteins increased notably after germination, especially at longer times, while levels of fat, carbohydrates, fibre, and β-glucan were reduced. Total phenolic compounds, γ-aminobutyric acid and antioxidant activity determined by Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity increased between 2-fold and 4-fold during sprouting, depending on germination conditions and this increase was more pronounced at higher temperatures (16–20 °C) and longer times (5–6 days). Procyanidin B and ferulic acid were the main phenolics in the soluble and insoluble fraction, respectively. Procyanidin B levels decreased while bound ferulic acid content increased during germination. Germinated barley flours exhibited lower brightness and a higher glycemic index than the control ones. This study shows that germination at 16 °C for 3.5 days was the optimum process to obtain nutritious and functional barley flours. Under these conditions, sprouts retained 87% of the initial β-glucan content, and exhibited levels of ascorbic acid, riboflavin, phenolic compounds and GABA between 1.4-fold and 2.5-fold higher than the non-sprouted grain.
Highlights
Nowadays, the main changes in demand for agricultural and food products are being fueled by population growth and lifestyle modifications
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results reveal that the predictive models obtained for all response variables were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05), with no significant values of lack-of-fit, indicating that the models satisfactorily predict the relationship between response variables and independent factors
This study demonstrates that germination is a promising process for developing novel nutritive
Summary
The main changes in demand for agricultural and food products are being fueled by population growth and lifestyle modifications. Barley remains an important grain in some cultures of Asia and Northern Africa, and in recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using barley as an ingredient in food products due its nutritional value and high content of biologically active compounds [2]. This renewed trend in formulating novel barley foods is based on the beneficial effects. The European Commission has authorized health claims linking barley β-glucan with a reduction of blood cholesterol. There is a large potential to include barley flour partially or as a whole grain in a wide range of cereal-based food products as an alternative to commonly used cereals (wheat, rice, maize and oat)
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