Study on comparative biomass yield, nutritional quality and economics of hydroponic sprout produced from different grains

This study was conducted to know the biomass yield, nutritional qualities and production costs of hydroponic sprout of maize, wheat and oats compared to their whole grains as feed. Weighed amount of seeds were soaked in water for 12, 24 and 2 hours, respectively followed by wrapping in cotton cloths for 48 h for maize and wheat, and 24 h for oats to germinate.Then germinated seeds were spread on plastic trays fitted in hydroponic racks for 7 days. At harvest, fresh yield was found 2.74, 3.5 and 2.5 kg for maize, wheat and oats, respectively from each kilogram of respective seed (p<0.01). The DM concentrations in maize (857.0 vs 764.6 g/kg; p<0.05) and oat sprout (911.5 vs 453.0 g/kg; P<0.01) were decreased, while not changed (P>0.05) in wheat sprout (900.7 vs 872.0 g/kg) compared to their respective grain. In contrary, concentration of CP was significantly increased in wheat (126.1 vs 183.3 g/kg DM; P<0.05) and oat sprout (158.8 vs 201.7 g/kg DM; P<0.01) and numerically in maize sprout (61.2 vs 81.3 g/kg DM) compared to respective grain. Similarly, concentrations of ADF and NDF was increased (P<0.01) in all sprouts from their respective grains. Contents of Vitamin E and soluble sugar (SS) both were increased in wheat (1.1 vs 2.3 & 443.7 vs 477.0 mg/100g, respectively in grain vs sprout; P<0.01) and oat sprout (11.0 vs 13.4 & 351.5 vs 356.2 mg/100g, respectively in grain vs sprout; P<0.01), while in maizeonly vitamin-E was increased (3.51 vs 8.1 mg/100g, respectively in grain vssprout; P<0.01), but SS was decreased (489.4 vs 462.5 mg/100g, respectively in grain vssprout; P<0.01). Maize sprout was found yeast and mold-free, but both of them (7.16 & 7.0 log10 CFU/g) were grown in wheat sprout, while only yeast in low concentration (5.74 log10 CFU/g) was found in oat sprout. The production cost of DM was found 1.5, 1.7 and 2.6 times higher in maize, wheat and oat sprout, respectively compared to grain. Further study including animal feeding trial is needed to confirm the benefits of producing hydroponic sprout instead of using grain as concentrate. Bang. J. Livs. Res. Vol. 26 (1&2), 2019: P. 51-60

Comparison of Flavonoid Profiles in Sprouts of Radiation Breeding Wheat Lines (Triticum aestivum L.)

Wheat (Triticum aestivum Linn.; Poaceae), one of the most popular food crops worldwide, contains basic and essential nutrients and various health benefiting phytochemicals. Among them, flavonoids have attracted significant interest owing to their various health-promoting properties. In this study, 35 wheat mutant lines were developed via gamma-irradiated mutation breeding from the original cultivar. The effects of radiation breeding on the endogenous phytochemical production in the sprouts of these mutant lines were investigated using high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESIMS) with multivariate analysis for the first time in this study. Fourteen characteristic peaks, including eleven flavone C-glycosides, two flavone O-glycosides, and one flavone, were identified. In addition, the contents of three flavone C-glycosides, namely, isoschaftoside, isoorientin, and isoscoparin, in 37 wheat sprout samples from the original cultivar, certificated cultivar, and the mutant lines were determined. A heat map combined with hierarchical clustering showed variation in the relative content for the flavonoids between the 37 wheat sprout samples, clustering into three groups. On principal component analysis scores scatter and loading plots, significant differences in the levels of flavonoids were found between the samples and several markers responsible for group separation were detected. These results provide a scientific reference for the phytochemical variation in wheat mutant lines, thereby aiding in further mutation mechanism studies and for the quality control of the improved wheat cultivars.

Chemical and microbial evaluation of biscuits made from wheat flour substituted with wheat sprouts

The aim of this work was to produce biscuits from wheat flour substituted with different amounts of wheat sprout powder (2.5–7.5%). The biscuits were subjected to chemical, phytochemical, and microbial evaluations. The crude protein, fat, and ash contents and the energy value of the biscuits increased with increasing percentage of wheat sprout powder. Adding sprouts resulted in higher values of phenolics, alpha-tocopherol, and antioxidant activity. There was no statistically significant difference in the contents of total phenolics and alpha-tocopherol between biscuits supplemented with 5% sprouts and biscuits substituted with 7.5% sprouts. The phenolic content in biscuits containing 7.5% sprouts was 245 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g dm compared with 110 mg GAE/100 g dm in control biscuits. Antioxidant activity was the highest in biscuits substituted with 7.5% sprouts. All levels of substitution of wheat flour with wheat sprouts had an effect on the nutritional properties of biscuits, but the substitution level of 2.5–5% is recommended for the improvement of their sensorial properties. The biscuits produced had a low microbial load and were microbiologically safe. Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and sulfite-reduction clostridia were not detected in any sample during the period of investigation from 2 to 60 days of storage.

Effect of Salinity Stress on Phenylpropanoid Genes Expression and Related Gene Expression in Wheat Sprout

The effect of salinity (NaCl treatment) on the nutritive value of wheat sprouts was investigated by analyzing the expression of phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway genes and the levels of phenylpropanoid compounds. Treatment with various concentrations of NaCl (50, 100, and 200 mM) resulted in increased epicatechin levels but decreased accumulation of catechin hydrate, benzoic acid, and quercetin compounds in the sprouts compared with the control (0 mM). The trans-cinnamic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, ferulic acid, epicatechin, and total phenylpropanoid level in wheat sprout was the highest at 50 mM of NaCl treatment. Six-day-old wheat plantlets exposed to 50 mM NaCl for 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h, showed that the total phenylpropanoids accumulation was the highest at 48 h after the treatment and most of the treatments showed higher phenylpropanoid content than the control at the same time points. Although the shoot and root length and the fresh weight of wheat sprouts decreased with NaCl treatment, these results suggest that treatment of 50 mM NaCl improves the nutritional quality of wheat sprouts, due to increased phenylpropanoid concentrations.

Effects of LED lights on Expression of Genes Involved in Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis and Accumulation of Phenylpropanoids in Wheat Sprout

Phenylpropanoids are naturally occurring compounds that exert beneficial pharmacological effects on human health. Phenylpropanoids can act as antioxidants and are involved in resistance to ultraviolet light and cancer; these compounds possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial activity, and aid in wound healing. The expression of genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and consequent accumulation of phenylpropanoids in wheat sprout under conditions of stress, have not been extensively studied. This is the first study to examine the effects of light-emitting diodes (LED) on the expression of genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and accumulation of phenylpropanoids in wheat sprouts. Our results, obtained using qRT-PCR and HPLC analyses, indicate that white light (380 nm) was the optimal wavelength for epicatechin biosynthesis in wheat sprouts. Compared with the effects of white light, blue light (470 nm) enhanced the accumulation of gallic acid and quercetin, but decreased the levels of p-coumaric acid and epicatechin; red light (660 nm) increased the accumulation of ferulic acid at 8 day and p-coumaric acid at 12 day. Compared gene expression with phenylpropanoid content showed that TaPAL3, TaPAL4, and TaDFR maybe important genes in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in wheat sprout. This study provides insights into the effects of led lights on phenylpropanoid production in wheat sprouts. This knowledge will help improve secondary metabolite production in wheat sprouts.

Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of wholegrain breads from modern and old wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and ancestors enriched with wheat sprout powder

In this study, we compared nutritional characteristics of breads from wholegrain flours of three modern cultivars, four old cultivars and one landrace population of common wheat (Triticum aestivum), one Khorasan (Triticum turgidum var turanicum) accession and one einkorn (Triticum monococcum) cultivar. One bread from refined flour was also included. All flours were enriched or not with 5% (w:w) of wheat sprout powder (WSP) to obtain enriched breads (EB) or control breads (CB), respectively. Total phenolics and flavonoids, reducing power, radical scavenging and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances production inhibition were measured on bread aqueous extracts. CB from old cultivars were generally higher in phenolic content and antioxidant activity than CB from modern cultivars. All EB showed increased phenolic content and antioxidant activity compared to CB, but the increase varied with the source flour, despite WSP supplementation was the same for all breads. In particular, the increase in phenolic content was much relevant for EB of modern cultivars.