CONTENT OF β-GLUCANS IN OAT GRAIN AS A PERSPECTIVE DIRECTION OF BREEDING FOR HEALTH PRODUCTS AND FODDER (review)

Abstract

The paper offers a review of the published data on the structure of β-glucan molecules in the oat kernel, their influence on the lipoprotein content and glycemic index, on the digestive system operation and cancer cells, as well as on other human health indicators. It is noted that watersoluble food fibers have both dietary, prophylactic and healing effects on the human organism (official reports of the US Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Association, EF-SA). It is discussed that physicochemical properties, chemical modifications and possibilities of industrial application of-glucans define clear perspectives for their potential use in foods, medicinal and cosmetic products. Besides, the results of analyzing the diversity of oat cultivars and species for the β-glucans content in the kernel are discussed. It is stated that the forms of naked oat have a higher total content of this polysaccharide than the hulled oats, while the latter contain more insoluble β-glucans in the oat kernel. It should be noted that the content of fibers depends on the meteorological conditions and agricultural methods of oat cultivation. The content of β-glucans in the kernel is related to the accumulation of protein and fat in the kernel, to the grain volume weight and to grain productivity. The problems of creating new productive oat cultivars with the maximum content and optimal structure of the said polysaccharide combined with other qualitative characters of the kernel, as well as possibilities of producing functional foods from the processed grain of such cultivars are considered. It is concluded that β-glucans will have an increasing importance in the global food and pharmaceutical industries.

Wheat, Barley, and Oat Breeding for Health Benefit Components in Grain

“…At the same time, the content and composition of dietary fibers in various cereal crop species are genetically determined. It means, as opined by many scientists, that it is possible to produce new lines of such crops with different correlations between the levels of β-glucan polysaccharides and arabinoxylans that would be optimal for various uses [37][38][39]. Studying of the β-glucan content in oat and barley cultivars is associated with their uses for dietetic and medical purposes [37,38].…”

“…The presence in the grain of a higher amount of β-glucans, which are dietary soluble fiber (or soluble non-starch polysaccharide), determines the viscosity of oat and barley broths, which have a beneficial effect on important functions of the human gastrointestinal tract, so they are widely used in the food industry for dietetic and curative purposes [36,43]. Among numerous products of barley and oat biosynthesis, probably the most valuable for the human organism is soluble cellulose fibers and β-glucans first of all (also arabinoxylan, xyloglucan, and some other secondary cellulose components), as they can reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood and noticeably mitigate the risk of cardiovascular diseases [38,44,45]. Multiple evidence of the beneficial role played by β-glucans impelled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make an official statement that soluble dietary fibers extracted from whole oat grain to produce flakes, bran, or flour helped to reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases [46].…”

EVALUATION OF OAT GENOTYPES FOR THE CONTENT OF Β-Glucans IN GRAIN ON THE BASIS OF ITS PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

“…В течение ряда лет в некоторых странах ведутся работы как по поиску образцов овса с повышенным или пониженным содержанием βглюканов в зерне среди существующих сортов, так и по созданию форм с разным накоплением этого полисахарида в зависимости от целевого использоавния (23)(24)(25). Несколько лет назад под эгидой European Commission был реализован европейский проект «Генетические ресурсы овса для качественного питания людей» («Avena genetic resources for quality in human consumption»), в котором исследовали 658 сортов овса.…”

The study of oat varieties (Avena sativa L.) of various geographical origin for grain quality and productivity

“…Зерно этой культуры ценится своими вкусовыми и диетическими качествами, содержит ненасыщенные жирные кислоты, основные минеральные элементы, глобулярные белки и высокое количество β-глю канов, характеризуется наличием разнообразных веществ с антиоксидантными свойствами (Shewry еt al., 2008;Zute еt al., 2016). Зерно используют на корм животным, в питании человека, а также в качестве пищевого и промышленного сырья (Arendt, Zannini, 2013;Loskutov, Polonskiy, 2017).…”

“…Таким образом, для создания коммерческих сортов овса кормового и пищевого направлений необходимо проведение селекции, соответственно, на минимальное и максимальное содержание β-глюканов в зерне (Zhu еt al., 2016). Информация о величине этих химических соединений в зерне разных образцов овса чрезвычайно скудна (Loskutov, Polonskiy, 2017), а для сортов, выращиваемых в условиях Сибири, полностью отсутствует. Поэтому целесообразно выполнение измерений содержания β-глюканов в зерне у существующего разнообразия образцов овса.…”