Accumulation of oat nutritive compounds during grain filling with an emphasis on beta-glucan

Abstract

The health benefits of oat cereals are linked to its high nutritional compounds, mixed-linkage (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucans (commonly referred to as β-glucans) in particular. This thesis was intended to focus on the accumulation features of oat nutritional compounds with an emphasis on β-glucans. Four Norwegian oat varieties (Odal, Haga, Vinger and Belinda) were grown at Vollebekk experiment farm of Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in the growing season 2013. The sample collection was started fifteen days after anthesis (DAA), and nine harvesting dates were performed in whole growing season. The samples were analyzed for total β-glucans content (including water-soluble and water-insoluble β-glucans analysis for a variety Odal ), total starch content and protein content in addition to gelatinization properties of oat starch using Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The result showed a significant increasing trend for each nutritional compound per groat during grain filling period. The average content (in %) of total beta-glucans increased from 0.3% at 15-DAA to 4.2% at 41-DAA, and the sharp increases occurred in the 10 days period from 20-DAA to 30-DAA.The statistical analysis showed that the accumulation features of those nutritional compounds and the gelatinization parameters of oat starch are significantly affected by varieties and the different harvesting date. Overall, Belinda will be the best choice for food because of the higher content of β-glucans content compared to other varieties.