Side-stream products of malting: a neglected source of phytochemicals
Journal article, 2020

Whole grain consumption reduces the risk of several chronic diseases. A major contributor to the effect is the synergistic and additive effect of phytochemicals. Malting is an important technological method to process whole grains; the main product, malted grain, is used mainly for brewing, but the process also yields high amounts of side-stream products, such as rootlet. In this study, we comprehensively determined the phytochemical profile of barley, oats, rye, and wheat in different stages of malting and the subsequent extraction phases to assess the potential of malted products and side-streams as a dietary source of bioactive compounds. Utilizing semi-quantitative LC–MS metabolomics, we annotated 285 phytochemicals from the samples, belonging to more than 13 chemical classes. Malting significantly altered the levels of the compounds, many of which were highly increased in the rootlet. Whole grain cereals and the malting products were found to be a diverse and rich source of phytochemicals, highlighting the value of these whole foods as a staple. The characterization of phytochemicals from the 24 different sample types revealed previously unknown existence of some of the compound classes in certain species. The rootlet deserves more attention in human nutrition, rather than its current use mainly as feed, to benefit from its high content of bioactive components.

Author

Ville Mikael Koistinen

University of Eastern Finland

Marjo Tuomainen

University of Eastern Finland

Pekka Lehtinen

Senson Oy

Petri Peltola

Senson Oy

Seppo Auriola

University of Eastern Finland

Karin Jonsson

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Food and Nutrition Science

Kati Hanhineva

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Food and Nutrition Science

University of Eastern Finland

University of Turku

npj Science of Food

23968370 (eISSN)

Vol. 4 1 21

Subject Categories

Food Science

Chemical Process Engineering

Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1038/s41538-020-00081-0

PubMed

33311514

More information

Latest update

12/22/2020