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Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Grain".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 41670

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Keshun Liu

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Guest Editor

USDA ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit
Interests: grains

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Barley and oats have been domesticated since ancient times. At present, they are less widely used as human food compared to rice and wheat. However, researchers and product developers around the world are increasingly interested in exploring the two ancient grains. This renewed interest has been driven by the unique composition of the two grains, the discovery of the cholesterol-lowering effect of beta-glucan (a soluble fiber that has earned an authorized health claim for the effect), and the public awareness of general wellness when consuming multi-grain food. In addition, unique to oats is the natural presence of a group of phenolic alkaloids known as avenanthramides. For food uses, oats are consumed as oatmeal or processed into bran, flour, and other ingredients for incorporating into various food products. Barley can be made into pearled barley, barley grits, flakes, and flour, but a major portion of the annual production is made into malted barley for brewing. One major strategy for expanding the food utilization of the two grains has been to fractionate them into protein concentrates, beta-glucan concentrates, starch, and other valuable ingredients.

This Special Issue aims to cover broad aspects relating to barley and oats with respect to the extraction, identification, characterization, and analysis of major or minor components, bioactive compounds, nutritional values, health benefits, analytical methodology, and the effect of processing. This Special Issue on barley and oats also covers original research relating to quality improvement and value-added utilization by breading/genetic modifications and advanced processing, product features and applications (food, bioethanol, etc.), and malting barley and its effect on beer making. Up-to-date reviews on barley or oats are also welcome.

I am looking forward to your interesting and innovative work.

Dr. Keshun Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Barley
oat
quality
protein
starch
beta-gluten
soluble fiber
avenanthramide
bioactive compound
functional ingredient
nutritional value
health benefit
quality improvement
analysis
method
processing
fractionation
extraction
concentration
property
application
utilization
bioethanol
malting
and brewing

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3476 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

GrainGenes: Tools and Content to Assist Breeders Improving Oat Quality

by Victoria C. Blake, Charlene P. Wight, Eric Yao and Taner Z. Sen

Foods 2022, 11(7), 914; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11070914 - 23 Mar 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2086

Abstract

GrainGenes is the USDA-ARS database and Web resource for wheat, barley, oat, rye, and their relatives. As a community Web hub and database for small grains, GrainGenes strives to provide resources for researchers, students, and plant breeders to improve traits such as quality, yield, and disease resistance. Quantitative trait loci (QTL), genes, and genetic maps for quality attributes in GrainGenes represent the historical approach to mapping genes for groat percentage, test weight, protein, fat, and β-glucan content in oat (Avena spp.). Genetic maps are viewable in CMap, the comparative mapping tool that enables researchers to take advantage of highly populated consensus maps to increase the marker density around their genes-of-interest. GrainGenes hosts over 50 genome browsers and is launching an effort for community curation, including the manually curated tracks with beta-glucan QTL and significant markers found via GWAS and cloned cellulose synthase-like AsClF6 alleles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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13 pages, 1212 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simplified Analysis and Expanded Profiles of Avenanthramides in Oat Grains

by Mike Woolman and Keshun Liu

Foods 2022, 11(4), 560; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11040560 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1736

Abstract

Uniquely, oats contain avenanthramides (AVAs), a group of phenolic alkaloids, exhibiting many health benefits. AVA analysis involves extraction with alcohol-based solvents and HPLC separation with UV and/or mass spectrometer detectors. There are many reported methods to extract AVAs. Almost all entail multiple extractions. The whole procedure is time- and labor-intensive. Furthermore, most quantifications are limited to three common AVAs (2f, 2p, 2c). The present study compared three extraction methods (all at 50 °C) for their effects on AVA concentrations and composition (% relative to total AVA) of oat grains. These included triplicate extractions with 80% ethanol containing 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.0) (A), triplicate extractions with 80% ethanol (B), and a single extraction with 80% ethanol (C), while keeping solid/total solvent ratio at 1/60 (g/mL) and total extraction time of 60 min. Results showed that 80% buffered ethanol gave significantly lower AVA contents than 80% ethanol, while single and triplicate extractions with 80% ethanol produced the same extractability. However, the extraction method had no effect on AVA composition. Using 0.25 g sample size instead of 0.5 g saved extractants by half, without affecting AVA measurements. Consequently, a simplified method of extraction was developed, featuring Method C. The present study also expanded profiling individual AVAs beyond AVA 2c, 2p and 2f. Other AVAs identified and semi-quantified included 5p, 4p, 3f/4f, and 2pd. The simplified analysis was validated by measuring 16 selected oat grain samples. Some of these grains had relatively high contents of 4p, 3f/4f and 2pd, which have been considered minor AVAs previously. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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14 pages, 1013 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Genetic Architecture of Milling Quality in Spring Oat Lines of the Collaborative Oat Research Enterprise

by Kathy Esvelt Klos, Belayneh A. Yimer, Catherine J. Howarth, Michael S. McMullen, Mark E. Sorrells, Nicholas A. Tinker, Weikai Yan and Aaron D. Beattie

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2479; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102479 - 16 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2374

Abstract

Most oat grains destined for human consumption must possess the ability to pass through an industrial de-hulling process with minimal breakage and waste. Uniform grain size and a high groat to hull ratio are desirable traits related to milling performance. The purpose of this study was to characterize the genetic architecture of traits related to milling quality by identifying quantitative trait loci (QTL) contributing to variation among a diverse collection of elite and foundational spring oat lines important to North American oat breeding programs. A total of 501 lines from the Collaborative Oat Research Enterprise (CORE) panel were evaluated for genome-wide association with 6 key milling traits. Traits were evaluated in 13 location years. Associations for 36,315 markers were evaluated for trait means across and within location years, as well as trait variance across location years, which was used to assess trait stability. Fifty-seven QTL influencing one or more of the milling quality related traits were identified, with fourteen QTL mapped influencing mean and variance across location years. The most prominent QTL was Qkernel.CORE.4D on chromosome 4D at approximately 212 cM, which influenced the mean levels of all traits. QTL were identified that influenced trait variance but not mean, trait mean only and both. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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14 pages, 492 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Genotype and Environment Affect the Grain Quality and Yield of Winter Oats (Avena sativa L.)

by Catherine J. Howarth, Pilar M. J. Martinez-Martin, Alexander A. Cowan, Irene M. Griffiths, Ruth Sanderson, Susan J. Lister, Tim Langdon, Sarah Clarke, Nick Fradgley and Athole H. Marshall

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2356; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102356 - 03 Oct 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2621

Abstract

The extent to which the quality and yield of plant varieties are influenced by the environment is important for their successful uptake by end users particularly as climatic fluctuations are resulting in environments that are highly variable from one growing season to another. The genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) of milling quality and yield was studied using four winter oat varieties in multi-locational trials over 4 years in the U.K. Significant differences across the 22 environments were found between physical grain quality and composition as well as grain yield, with the environment having a significant effect on all of the traits measured. Grain yield was closely related to grain number m⁻² whereas milling quality traits were related to grain size attributes. Considerable genotype by environment interaction was obtained for all grain quality traits and stability analysis revealed that the variety Mascani was the least sensitive to the environment for all milling quality traits measured whereas the variety Balado was the most sensitive. Examination of environmental conditions at specific within-year stages of crop development indicated that both temperature and rainfall during grain development were correlated with grain yield and β-glucan content and with the ease of removing the hull (hullability). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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21 pages, 6639 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting the Properties of Industrially Produced Oat Flours by the Characteristics of Native Oat Grains or Non-Heat-Treated Groats

by Iina Jokinen, Juha-Matti Pihlava, Anna Puganen, Tuula Sontag-Strohm, Kaisa M. Linderborg, Ulla Holopainen-Mantila, Veli Hietaniemi and Emilia Nordlund

Foods 2021, 10(7), 1552; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071552 - 05 Jul 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3357

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether the properties of the native oat grain or non-heat-treated groats (laboratory-scale dehulling) can be used to predict the quality of the industrially produced oat flour produced from heat-treated groats. Quality properties such as the color, hectoliter weight, thousand seed weight and hull content of Finnish native grains (n = 30) were determined. Furthermore, the relationship between the properties of the native grains and the chemical composition of the raw oat materials before and after the milling process were studied. A significant relationship (p < 0.01) was observed between the thousand seed weight of the native oat groats and the chemical composition of the industrially produced oat flour. Furthermore, the protein content of the native grains measured by NIT correlated with the chemical composition of the oat flours. These results suggest that the properties of oat flour produced on an industrial scale, including heat treatment, could be predicted based on the properties of native oat grains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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Review

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21 pages, 11603 KiB

Open AccessReview

Oat-Based Foods: Chemical Constituents, Glycemic Index, and the Effect of Processing

by Kailong Zhang, Rui Dong, Xinzhong Hu, Changzhong Ren and Yuwei Li

Foods 2021, 10(6), 1304; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10061304 - 07 Jun 2021

Cited by 52 | Viewed by 28371

Abstract

The desire for foods with lower glycemic indices has led to the exploration of functional ingredients and novel food processing techniques. The glycemic index (GI) is a well-recognized tool to assess the capacity of foods to raise blood glucose levels. Among cereal crops, oats have shown the greatest promise for mitigating glycemic response. This review evaluated decades of research on the effects of oat components on the GI level of oat-based foods with specific emphasis on oat starch, β-glucans, proteins, and phenolics. The effects of commonly used processing techniques in oats on GI level, including heating, cooling, and germination were also discussed. In addition, the GI of oat-based foods in various physical formats such as whole grain, flakes, and flour was systematically summarized. The aim of this review was to synthesize knowledge of the field and to provide a deeper understanding of how the chemical composition and processing of oats affect GI, thereby further benefiting the development of low-GI oat foods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Barley and Oats: Chemistry, Health Benefits, Processing and Utilizations)

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