Developments in fractionation methods to improve extraction of aleurone or its beneficial compounds from wheat grain
In wheat grains, the aleurone layer is located between the peripheral tissues and the starchy endosperm and is rich in soluble proteins, minerals, lipids, vitamins and micronutrients and contains several compounds with antioxidant activities. However, along grain fractionation it is mainly recovered in bran fractions, generally used to feed animals or for energy production. These last few years, the cereal scientist community and companies developed research and new processing technologies (mainly protected with patents) in order to more deeply exploit its potential. This was mainly based on a better knowledge of its composition and properties helped by a better monitoring of its behaviour along milling, debranning and further isolation. This chapter summarizes main strategies for aleurone layer isolation and pinpoints out how its cell walls or cellular content may be of interest to obtain. It also highlights potential drawbacks, synergistic effect of different compounds, question of bioavailability and possible future trends.