Comparison of Nutritional Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Pulverized and Unutilized Portions of Waxy Barley

Effects of Substituting Wheat with Waxy Barley Bran Flour on Physical Properties, Health Functionality, and Sensory Characteristics of Noodles

When waxy barley (WB) is milled, 40% of the weight is typically discarded as bran. To utilize WB bran resources and improve health functionality, flours prepared from inner bran (IB) and outer bran (OB) layers were used to substitute partially wheat all-purpose flour (APF) for noodle preparation. The dough and noodle qualities were investigated based on analytical tests and sensory evaluations. Both methods revealed considerable darkening of the doughs and noodles upon OB substitution. Boiled noodles with 30% and 50% IB substitution had considerably lower total energy and breaking stress, whereas those with OB substitution had higher breaking stress at all substitution rates. Texture differences between sample groups were observed using analytical tests, but not via sensory evaluation. In addition, the boiled noodles with 50% OB demonstrated considerably lower taste preference in the sensory evaluation than the APF noodles. The comprehensive evaluation score was considerably lower for the boiled noodles with 30% or 50% OB than that of the APF noodles. The β-glucan and antioxidant contents increased with the IB or OB substitution rates. These findings show that APF can be substituted with IB at a substitution rate of 50%, while the substitution of OBF is limited to ≤10%.

Valorization of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) brans from the sustainable perspective: A comprehensive review of bioactive compounds and health benefits with emphasis on their potential applications

Barley is an important source of sustainable diets for humans, while its brans is commonly disposed as wastes. The recycling of barley brans has become a key for facilitating the valorization of barley as a whole to achieve its sustainable development. This review summarized the value of barley brans as an excellent source of multiple functional components (phenolic compounds, β-glucan, and arabinoxylan), which conferred extensive health benefits to barley brans mainly including antioxidant, anti-obesity and lipid-lowering, anti-diabetic, and hepatoprotective properties. The utilization of barley brans reflected a great potential for sustainable development. Exploiting of food products and edible films containing barley brans or their bioactive compounds and non-food applications (preparation of bioactive substances, laccase enzymes, and biosorbents) have been attempted for supporting the zero-waste concept and circular economy. Considering their diverse applications, effective extraction techniques of bioactive compounds from barley brans and their safety are the priority of future research.

Comparative Analysis of Vitamin, Mineral Content, and Antioxidant Capacity in Cereals and Legumes and Influence of Thermal Process

Cereals, as the world's most consumed food, face challenges related to nutrient quality due to climate change and increased production impacting soil health. In this study, we investigated the vitamin and mineral content, polyphenols, and antioxidant activity in cereals from Western Romania, analyzing whole and hulled wheat, rye, oat, and soybeans before and after heat treatment. Samples from 2022 crops were processed into dough and subjected to 220 °C for 30 min. The results reveal that, despite efforts to optimize nutrient content, cereals, particularly after heat processing, exhibited lower vitamin and mineral levels than the recommended daily intake. The decrease in polyphenols and antioxidant capacity was notable, with rye flour experiencing the largest decline (15%). Mineral analysis showed copper levels in decorticated wheat decreased by 82.5%, while iron in rye decreased by 5.63%. Soy flour consistently displayed the highest calcium, magnesium, and potassium levels, whereas oat flour had the highest zinc and copper levels before and after heat processing. The study highlights the concerningly low vitamins and minerals contents in cereals, as well as in the final products reaching consumers in the Western part of Romania, and contributes to the assessment of measures that are meant to improve the contents of these minerals.