Samples from naked oat were steeped and germinated under controlled conditions in an incubator. Changes of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were investigated in oats during steeping and germination. Results revealed that phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of oats varied with the difference in steeping and germination stages. Compared with raw grains, short-term steeping treatment did not show significant effects (p > 0.05) on phenolic content. Germination can significantly result in the decrease in bound phenolic and the increase in free and total phenolics. Main phenolic acids and avenanthramides were isolated and quantified by HPLC analysis. During steeping, phenolic acids decreased (p < 0.05); avenanthramide N-(3',4'-dihydroxy)-(E)-cinnamoyl-5-hydroxyanthranilic acid first decreased and then increased (p < 0.05), while avenanthramides N-(4'-hydroxy)-(E)-cinnamoyl-5-hydroxyanthranilic acid and N-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxy)-(E)-cinnamoyl-5-hydroxyanthranilic acid did not change significantly (p > 0.05). During germination, gallic and caffeic acids first increased (p < 0.05) and then decreased, whereas p-coumaric and ferulic acids and avenanthramides increased (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, avenanthramides did not change significantly (p > 0.05) during the last stage of germination. Oat extracts exhibited increasing high antioxidant activity with the steeping and germination going on, which may explain that antioxidant activity correlated (p < 0.01) significantly with the content of phenolic compounds.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and provides beneficial effects for human and other animals health. To accumulate GABA, samples from two different naked oat cultivars, Baiyan II and Bayou I, were steeped and germinated in an incubator. The content of GABA and glutamic acid as well as the activity of the glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) in oats during steeping and germination were investigated with an amino acid automatic analyzer. Compared with raw groats, an increase in GABA content of oat groats during steeping and germination was continuously observed for two oat cultivars. The activity of GAD increased greatly at the end of steeping and the second stage of germination for Baiyan II and Bayou I, respectively. Glutamic acid content of treated oat groats was significantly lower than that in raw groats until the later period of germination. GABA was correlated (p<0.01) significantly and positively with the glutamic acid rather than GAD activity in the current study. The results indicates that steeping and germination process under highly controlled conditions can effectively accumulate the GABA in oat groats for Baiyan II and Bayou I, which would greatly facilitate production of nutraceuticals or food ingredients that enable consumers to gain greater access to the health benefits of oats. However, more assays need to be further performed with more oat cultivars.

The antibacterial activities and mechanism of action of acetone extracts from R. rubescens were reported in this paper. The results showed that 80% acetone extracts had both the highest contents of total phenolics and flavonoids. Acetone extracts showed better antibacterial activities against Gram-positive bacterial strains and there were no inhibitory effects found on tested Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, 80% acetone extracts from R. rubescens had relatively higher antibacterial activities with the lowest values of MIC and MBC at 2.5 mg/mL and 5 mg/mL against B. subtilis. The antibacterial mechanism of 80% acetone extracts against Bacillus subtilis might be described as disrupting cell wall, increasing cell membrane permeability, and finally leading to the leakage of cell constituents.

The oil from clove buds had a wide range of pharmacological action and bioactivities and is widely used in the medicine, food and flavouring industries. In this work, the antibacterial activity of the essential oil (EO) and oleoresin (OL) from clove buds against several food-related bacteria were evaluated based on Oxford cup method, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays, and the results showed that there is no obvious difference in antibacterial activity between essential oil and oleoresin, and they exhibited better antibacterial activity against test bacteria, and the antibacterial effects depended on its concentrations and action time. Kill-time assay also showed the essential oil and oleoresin from clove buds had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth rate of surviving Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.