Sprouts Use as Functional Foods. Optimization of Germination of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) Seeds Based on Their Nutritional Content Evolution

Abstract

Wheat, alfalfa, and radish sprouts are well-renowned for their high nutritional content. However, their optimal imbibition and germination durations are rarely considered in the literature. In this study, reduced imbibition times of 3 h, 10 h, and 4 h were demonstrated for the wheat, alfalfa, and radish seeds, respectively. The evolution of their crude fat, proteins, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, and vitamins were investigated over 7 days of germination. The crude fat and protein loads of these sprouts slightly varied during germination, whereas the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity maxed out at day 7, 5, and 6 for the wheat, alfalfa, and radish sprouts, respectively, with significant levels of catechin. The vitamins highly increased, showing noteworthy yet different peaks of growth depending on the seed and the vitamin analyzed. Interestingly, alfalfa and radish sprouts, taken at their optimal germination day, would decidedly contribute to meet our Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) of vitamins E, A, and B6. Overall, for a greater nutritional content and a potential use of these sprouts as nutraceutical ingredients, our results suggested to leave the wheat, alfalfa, and radish seeds to germinate only over 7, 4, and 6 days, respectively, after which their nutritional quality tended to decrease.

Effect of Soaking of Seeds in Water and Storage Period in a Regular Refrigerator to Produce Sprouts of some Vegetables for Marketing Purposes

“…Still, it may differ in effect from one seed to another and between one environment and another, and the optimal soaking time in his research was only 4 hours to germinate by 88%, which may indicate that they do not need soaking in general, but instead only washing and moisturizing the seeds, since the process of producing plants depends on the presence of water permanently, and the effect of the storage period is clearly shown in increasing the proportion of nutritional components. This result is consistent with the finding of [10] that the optimal storage period for the radish sprouts to give the best nutritional components is 4, 6, and 7 days.…”

“…The treatment a2b1c3 (red radish with soaking seeds with the third storage period) recorded the highest value (16.38%), differing significantly compared to the lowest value (11.91%) obtained by treatment a3b1c3. We notice that despite the soaking treatment did not affect the protein percentage significantly, it was influential in the binary and triple interaction of radish sprouts, which may be due, as reported by [10] [53], to the fact that germination can change the seed nutrient constitution. He also mentioned that radish seeds absorb water well.…”

“…It is worth noting that some researchers classify sprouts as functional foods [9,10], because of their importance, especially for some types of plants with medicinal effects. [9] explain in a study on several types of sprouts (such as apricots, almonds, broccoli, and radishes) that have essential health benefits and medical effects, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, and are considered protective substances beneficial for the heart, protective against neurological diseases, and anti-cancer.…”

Tissue-Specific Antioxidant Activities of Germinated Seeds in Lentil Cultivars during Thermal Processing

“…For whole lentil, the GS of FG (2.03 mg/g GAE DW) and LG (2.08 mg/g GAE DW) exhibited significantly decreased TPC compared with the NGS (3.09, 2.65 mg/g GAE DW for FG and LG, respectively), whereas the GS of LR (1.02 mg/g GAE DW) showed significantly increased TPC compared with the NGS (0.86 mg/g GAE DW). It has been shown that germination increases the TPC in sprouted seeds of several plants, including sunflower, radish, mung bean, and soybean [ 9 , 10 , 29 , 30 ]. However, germination has been reported to reduce the TPC content in lentils [ 31 ], similar to the FG and LG varieties but contrary to the LR variety ( Figure 2 A).…”

“…The significantly reduced ABTS radical scavenging ability of the seeds coats might be responsible for these results, as the AA of the endosperms were significantly increased ( Figure 4 B). In crops such as mung bean, soybean, radish, buckwheat, etc., the positive effects of germination on AA have been extensively reported [ 11 , 29 , 30 ]. The rise in AA during germination is likely related to the quantitative increase in antioxidants such as polyphenols.…”