Abstract
Cereal grains represent one of the major sources of human food and nowadays, their production has increased to fulfill the needs of the world’s population. Among whole grains, wheat is the most popular and contributes significantly to the human diet. Whole grains possess great nutritional and bioactive properties due to their fractions, bran and germ, that comprise unique health-promoting bioactive components. The evidence of health benefits in human intervention studies, as well as a World Health Organization report for 2012–2016, supports the dietary consumption of whole grains and whole-grain foods. The inverse correlation between whole grain consumption and the reduced risk of chronic diseases and metabolic syndromes was underlined by several epidemiological studies. This article focuses on the bioactive components of whole grains and their fractions, namely phenolic acids, starting from their chemical structure, bioactivity and bioavailability. According to the conclusive evaluation of the human intervention studies conducted using cereal bran and whole grains intake, the assumption that the bioactive compounds determine health outcomes is illustrated. In the last part of the work, the functional potential and the health claims related to whole grains and bran intake are discussed, as well as new technologies and strategies to enhance their health potential by an increased bioavailability.
Highlights
According to Eurostat (2016) [1], cereal grains represent one of the world’s major sources of food contributing up to 300 million tons annually
Based on the World Health Organization report for 2012–2016 [7], consumption of whole grains may decrease the risk of non-communicable diseases, a number of epidemiological studies, precisely large prospective studies that include millions of person over years of follow-up, have underlined the inverse correlation between whole grain consumption, including the bran part, and the reduced risk of chronic diseases and metabolic syndromes [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
This review focuses on works assessing bioaccessibility and bioavailability, food processing influence and recent strategies and technologies to unlock phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and bioavailability
Summary
According to Eurostat (2016) [1], cereal grains represent one of the world’s major sources of food contributing up to 300 million tons annually. Based on the recent findings on the health-related effects of bran components, the approach of using it as a functional food ingredient in bakery and pasta processes is of major interest [33,34], as well are the strategies to increase their phenolic acids bioaccessibility/bioavailability. This manuscript seeks to review the recent scientific literature concerning whole grains and their fractions, bioactive compounds and nutrients, with a focus on bran phenolic acids. This work is intended to encourage new research in an area with promising findings in the near future
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