Application of Hull-Less Barley Variety ‘Kornelija’ Grains for Yogurt Development

Nowadays consumers are looking for new food products with added nutritional value. Therefore, producers and scientists develop new recipes and technologies with the aim to enrich products with fibres, vitamins, and probiotics. Since naked barley contains high concentration of soluble dietary fibre, including β-glucans, which have stabilising properties, it has a good potential for fermented dairy food development. The goal of the current study was to assess the application of hull-less barley grain ‘Kornelija’ for development of fibre-enriched yogurt. Milk was fermented with freeze-dried starter (Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus) by adding flour of ungerminated, 24 and 36 hours germinated barley grain (amount 2%, 3%, 4%) at 41 ± 1 oC up to pH 4.7 ± 1.0. pH of samples during fermentation, the colony forming units of lactic acid bacteria, viscosity, and concentration of fibres were determined. Results of the current study showed that flour from ungerminated, and 24 and 36 hours germinated barley grain, fortified yogurt with dietary fibre (from 0.89 to 1.77 g·100 kcal−1), promoted growth of lactic acid bacteria in the product, increased the viscosity and shortened fermentation time, but the significance of effects depended on the amount and type of added flour.

Genes That Mediate Starch Metabolism in Developing and Germinated Barley Grain

Starch is synthesized in the endosperm of developing barley grain, where it functions as the primary source of stored carbohydrate. In germinated grain these starch reserves are hydrolyzed to small oligosaccharides and glucose, which are transported to the embryo to support the growth of the developing seedling. Some of the mobilized glucose is transiently stored as starch in the scutellum of germinated grain. These processes are crucial for early seedling vigor, which is a key determinant of crop productivity and global food security. Several starch synthases (SS), starch-branching enzymes (SBEs), and starch debranching enzymes (isoamylases, ISA), together with a limit dextrinase (LD), have been implicated in starch synthesis from nucleotide-sugar precursors. Starch synthesis occurs both in the developing endosperm and in the scutellum of germinated grain. For the complete depolymerization of starch to glucose, α-amylase (Amy), β-amylase (Bmy), isoamylase (ISA), limit dextrinase (LD), and α-glucosidase (AGL) are required. Most of these enzymes are encoded by gene families of up to 10 or more members. Here RNA-seq transcription data from isolated tissues of intact developing and germinated barley grain have allowed us to identify the most important, specific gene family members for each of these processes in vivo and, at the same time, we have defined in detail the spatio-temporal coordination of gene expression in different tissues of the grain. A transcript dataset for 81,280 genes is publicly available as a resource for investigations into other cellular and biochemical processes that occur in the developing grain from 6 days after pollination.

Secondary metabolites changes in germinated barley and its relationship to anti-wrinkle activity

The purpose of this research was to identify metabolite change during barley (Hordeum vulgare) germination and reveal active principles for the anti-wrinkle activity. Barley was germinated with deionized water (DW) and mineral-rich water (MRW) for the comparison of the effect of mineral contents on the metabolites changes during germination. The effects of germinated barley extracts (GBEs) on collagen production and collagenase inhibition were evaluated in vitro using human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). A pronounced anti-wrinkle activity was observed in the test group treated with the MRW-GBEs. In order to find out the active components related to the anti-wrinkle activity, an orthogonal projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was performed, using the data from secondary metabolites profiling conducted by UPLC–PDA–ESI–MS. The anti-wrinkle activity of MRW-GBEs was revealed to be associated with the increase of oligomeric compounds of procyanidin and prodelphinidin, indicating that it can be used as an active ingredient for anti-wrinkle agents.

Evaluation of various barley processing methods on rumen microbial population, histomorphometry, and fermentation characteristics in fattening lamb

Barley deserves a top place in the farm for feeding livestock. It is irreplaceable by any other grain in sheep diets for producing capacious rumen microbial yields. The present study was conducted to investigatethe effect of different methods of barley processing on a number of microbes, fermentation parameters, and the rumen tissue characteristics of fattening lambs. For this purpose, 20 fattening male lambs with a mean weight of 25 ± 1.1 kg were tested for 80 daysbasedon a completely randomized design with four treatments (GRB: ground barley, SRB: steam-rolled barley, GEB: germinated barley, SOB: soaked barley) and five replicates. Three lambs from each treatment were slaughtered and sampling was done on the rumen liquid and tissue to determine their pH and volatile fatty acid (VFA), amylolytic bacteria, proteolytic, cellulolytic, heterophilic, and protozoa contents. The findings showed that the number of cellulolytic bacteria in ground barley treatment was lower than that of soaked barley treatment. In addition, there existed fewer heterophilic bacteria in germinated barley groups compared with other treatments. The lactic acid level in the GRB was increased compared to that in SRB and GEB treatments (P < 0.05). The GRB further reduced the thickness of the rumen wall in comparison with SRB. In general, replacing GRB with SOB improved certain thickness of the epithelial tissue and cellulolytic bacteria of the rumen.

STUDY OF HYDROTHERMAL TREATMENT OF DRIED MALT WITH PLASMOCHEMICALLY ACTIVATED AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Studying the specific technological features and functional properties of foodstuffs made with the addition of malt is a particular priority for scientists and experts in the food processing industry. The paper deals with the peculiarities of malt processing, namely, with how it is humidified by means of plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions with different concentrations of hydrogen peroxides. The study presented deals with hydrothermal treatment of dry malt with solutions activated by the action of non-equilibrium contact plasma. In the course of this treatment, microparticles of hydrogen peroxide are formed. When in contact with the raw materials, they can form active oxygen, which is an agent stimulating biochemical transformations that activate the mashing and extraction of malt. The hydrogen peroxide concentration has been determined for the solutions used for further hydrothermal treatment of malt. It has been established which modes of hydrothermal treatment of dry germinated barley grain with plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions ensure the fastest absorption of moisture by malt. The highest water absorption rate was observed in the samples with activated water where the peroxide concentration was 600mg/l. It has been studied how the degree of malt swelling changed with the temperature and mash ratio. When ordinary water was used, the optimum mash ratio was 1:4 (65°С), and with activated water, a similar result was obtained with the mash ratio 1:3, which allows reducing water consumption in the process. The process of malt mashing has been studied, and the malt extracting capacity analysed. When plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions were used, the extracting capacity was observed to be increasing noticeably by 0.06–0.41%, depending on the mashing mode. It has been proved that the antiseptic properties of the activated water allow extra disinfection of raw materials. Using activated aqueous solutions reduces pathogen contamination of grain. It has been found that absolute destruction of mould microflora is possible at high concentrations of peroxides in the solutions. The paper highlights the operational parameters that can be used during industrial processing of malt, and gives recommendations for the use of plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions in barley malt processing.