Nutritional Relevance of Wheat Sprouts Containing High Levels of Organic Phosphates and Antioxidant Compounds

Abstract

Wheat sprouts contain a very high level of organic phosphates and a powerful cocktail of antioxidant molecules. Catalase and peroxidase activity appears very strong. Regarding low-molecular weight antioxidant molecules, TLC and other biochemical analysis show the presence of several classes of antioxidant compounds such as reducing glycosides, polyphenols, and -SH groups. Antioxidant activity has been measured by potassium ferricyanide reduction and by means of superoxide scavenging NBT. It has also been observed that the oral assumption of wheat sprout powder induces in old dogs a significant reduction of senile cataract. These results clearly confirm that the administration of natural antioxidant compounds can prevent or delay senile cataract. Moreover, it is evident that wheat sprout biologically active substances can be at least partially absorbed during the digestion process. Our research is now directed to the recovery of large amounts of wheat sprout biologically active substances that could also be used in the formulation of nutritional complements.

Bioactive Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties of the Grains and Sprouts of Colored Wheat Genotypes

“…Specifically, anthocyanidins that are reported to be useful for prophylaxis of some diseases. Moreover, there is evidence that biologically active substances from wheat sprouts may be partially absorbed during digestion [ 24 ]. We hypothesized that grains and sprouts of specific colored wheat genotypes, in particular, can have high healthy antioxidant contents and can therefore be a promising source for functional foods.…”

Aging Reversibility: from Thymus Graft to Vegetable Extract Treatment – Application to Cure an Age-associated Pathology

“…With regard to the antioxidant activity measured by potassium ferricyanide reduction, the wheat sprout activity (from 1 g of powder) is comparable to that exerted by 1 mg of active pure compounds, such as vitamin C, rutin, quercetin. As far as the scavenging activity is concerned, the sprout extract activity (from 1 g of powder) is comparable with 10 mg of active pure compounds Marsili et al 2004). These results are in (Anderson et al 1994;Taylor et al 1995;Niwa et al 1998;Orham et al 1999).…”

“…Peptides with similar characteristics of regulation extracted from the chromatin of thymus gland are present in several vegetal tissues and in particular in wheat sprout extracts (WESPRE) (Gianfranceschi et al 1976a;Mancinelli et al 1992;Mancinelli et al 1999). It is not known whether WESPRE can act on the neuroendocrine system like thymus but we hypothesize that WESPRE has the capacity of recovering aging altered parameters for the presence of nuclear acidic peptides like those present in TME and for a remarkable level of antioxidant activity (Falcioni et al 2002;Calzuola et al 2004;Marsili et al 2004). As far as the antioxidants are concerned, senescence may be the result of an imbalance between free radical production and antioxidant defences with consequent age-dependent functional decline (Biesalski 2002;Droge 2002).…”

Estudo cinético da enzima catalase (E.C. 1.11.1.6) de extrato bruto de batata doce (Ipomoea batatas)

“…Outro estudo revelou que a ingestão oral de extrato de broto de trigo, rico em substâncias antioxidantes e com forte atividade de catalase, reduziu ou retardou significativamente a catarata senil canina [16].…”