Exogenous γ‐aminobutyric acid alleviates oxidative damage caused by aluminium and proton stresses on barley seedlings

BACKGROUND: Proton (H⁺) and aluminium (Al³⁺) toxicities are major factors limiting crop production on acid soils, while γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non‐protein amino acid involved in various stress tolerances in plants. In this study, to determine whether exogenous GABA is functional in alleviating oxidative stress induced by H⁺ and Al³⁺ toxicities, the antioxidant defence response regulated by GABA was investigated in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). RESULTS: After 24 h treatments of seedlings under H⁺, Al³⁺ and combined stresses with and without GABA, morphological and biochemical assays were conducted. It was observed that the inhibition of seedling root elongation caused by Al³⁺ and H⁺ toxicities was significantly mitigated by GABA. The amount of carbonylated proteins with molecular masses of 14.4–97 kDa was decreased. The activities of antioxidant enzymes were enhanced, the content of malondialdehyde was reduced and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as shown by staining roots with nitroblue tetrazolium, declined in GABA‐treated seedlings. CONCLUSION: GABA can alleviate oxidative damage caused by H⁺ and Al³⁺ toxicities in barley seedlings by activating antioxidant defence responses and reducing the elevated levels of carbonylated proteins caused by ROS. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Consumption of barley β‐glucan ameliorates fatty liver and insulin resistance in mice fed a high‐fat diet

Consumption of a diet high in barley β‐glucan (BG) has been shown to prevent insulin resistance. To investigate the mechanism for the effects of barley BG, three groups of male 7‐wk‐old C57BL/6J mice were fed high‐fat diets containing 0, 2, or 4% of barley BG for 12 wk. The 2% BG and 4% BG groups had significantly lower body weights compared with the 0% BG group. The 4% BG group demonstrated improved glucose tolerance and lower levels of insulin‐resistance index and glucose‐dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Consumption of the BG diet decreased hepatic lipid content. Mice on the BG diet also demonstrated decreased fatty acid synthase and increased cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase gene expression levels. The BG diet promoted hepatic insulin signaling by decreasing serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 and activating Akt, and it decreased mRNA levels of glucose‐6‐phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. In summary, consumption of BG reduced weight gain, decreased hepatic lipid accumulation, and improved insulin sensitivity in mice fed a high‐fat diet. Insulin signaling enhanced due to the expression changes of glucose and lipid metabolism genes by BG consumption. Consumption of barley BG could be an effective strategy for preventing obesity, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome.     

Changes in β-glucan and other carbohydrate components of barley during malting

Changes in total (1→3), (1→4)-β-glucan content were followed during the micro-malting of nine varieties of barley with a wide range of malting qualities. These changes were related to estimates of endosperm modification based upon staining with Calcofluor. β-Glucan content declined from an average of 3.54% in the barley to 0.75% in the malt. Pentosan and total starch (including starch-derived oligosaccharides) levels showed comparatively little change during malting. β-Glucan composition of the barley was a poor indicator of malting performance. However, the β-glucan, starch and xylose contents of the malt all showed significant correlations with malt extract. Estimation of malt β-glucan content gave the best indication of malt quality. Direct determination of β-glucan may be of more value in assessing malt quality than indirect techniques based upon assessing modification of stained grains.     

Beneficial effect of the unsaponifiable matter from rice bran on oxidative stress in vitro compared with α‐tocopherol

Unsaponifiable matter (UM) was prepared from rice bran using n‐hexane extraction followed by removal of its fatty acid methyl ester with supercritical CO₂ under heat‐stable conditions. The UM was made up of 1% of vitamin E isomers, 28% of γ‐oryzanol and 71% of uncharacterized compounds. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activities of the UM, using α‐tocopherol (α‐T) as a positive control, by measuring the Fe³⁺‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH^?) free‐radical‐scavenging property and lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes. In addition, the effects of the UM on the tert‐butyl hydroperoxide (t‐BOOH)‐induced cytotoxicity in cultured rat hepatocytes were also investigated. In FRAP assay and DPPH^? free‐radical‐scavenging assay, the results were expressed g^?1α‐T or g^?1 UM. The amount of UM used in lipid peroxidation assay and cytotoxicity assay was the amount required to have equal amounts of total vitamin E isomers in the sample and the control α‐T. The UM, as well as α‐T, exhibited significant antioxidant activities in FRAP, radical‐scavenging and membrane‐lipid oxidation. The FRAP value for total vitamin E isomers in the UM (TVEIUM) was 9.1 times higher than that for α‐T. In terms of their capacities to perform radical‐scavenging and lipid peroxidation, both TVEIUM and α‐T showed similar antioxidant activities. In experiments using cultured rat hepatocytes, the t‐BOOH‐induced lactate dehydrogenase release was significantly inhibited by the addition of 63.5 and 160 µg ml^?1 of TVEIUM treatments (84 and 89%, respectively), and that of 63.5 and 160 µg ml^?1 of α‐T treatment (88 and 93%, respectively). The antioxidant function against oxidative stress of the UM prepared from rice bran may extend its use to being a potential dietary supplement. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

The Relevance of Different Enzymes for the Hydrolysis of β‐glucans in Malting and Mashing

β‐Glucosidase and to a lesser extent endo‐β1–4‐glucanase are present in significant quantity in raw barley. These enzymes, as well as endo‐β1–3, 1–4‐glucanase, endo‐β1–3‐glucanase and exo‐β1–3‐glucanase, increase in activity during steeping and germination. Exo‐β1–3‐glucanase stands apart through its very late development during germination and it may be a limiting enzyme in malts that have not received substantial modification. Three separate exo‐glucanases were located in malt and each of them displayed a preference for β1–3 linkages. As the principle product of endo‐β1–3, 1–4‐glucanase is oligosaccharides with a β1–4 linkage at the non‐reducing end (from which end exo enzymes approach the substrate), this is likely to be a second reason (alongside the late development of the enzyme) why such oligosaccharides survive in significant quantities into wort. A third contributing factor may be the sensitivity of the exo‐glucanases to ions such as potassium, sodium and magnesium.     

Amylose and β‐Glucan Content of New Waxy Barleys

Starch was isolated from four new waxy barleys and compared with normal and high‐amylose barley starch. The waxy barley samples were selected lines from crosses of Swedish hulled and naked barley cultivars with the cultivar Azhul as donor of the waxy gene. The starches from the waxy barley samples were found to contain 0.7–2.6% amylose when determined iodimetrically by amperometric titration and 0.0–0.9% when determined by size exclusion chromatography after debranching. However, Sepharose CL‐2B elution profiles of the starches detected by iodine staining showed that all four waxy samples were free from detectable amounts of amylose. The amylopectin starches were found to contain a small polysaccharide fraction with molecular size smaller than amylopectin, with an iodine staining λ_max range of 550–600 nm. The water extractable and acid extractable β‐glucan contents in the waxy barley cultivars were generally found to be higher than those in normal barley.     

Phytosterols and γ‐oryzanol in rice bran oils and distillates from physical refining process

Commercially available refined rice bran oil (RBO) contained high contents of phytosterol and γ‐oryzanol, that is, 858–1034 and 248–887 mg per 100 g oil, respectively. Although the crude rice bran oil (CRBO) had high contents of both phytochemicals (1362–1376 mg phytosterol per 100 g and 1599–1666 mg γ‐oryzanol per 100 g), physical refining process resulted in their reduction to 820–895 mg phytosterol per 100 g and 933–960 mg γ‐oryzanol per 100 g in RBO (P < 0.05). Both phytochemicals evaporated and accumulated in the deodoriser distillate (DD) to some extent during the deodorising step. Further distillation of DD using molecular distillation (MD) evaporated the free fatty acids (FFAs), resulting in the unevaporated fraction (UMD) having the acid values of 5.6–9.3 mg KOH g^?1. The UMD also contained 1585–3391 mg phytosterol per 100 g and 781–848 mg γ‐oryzanol per 100 g. Results suggest potential use of DD as the source of phytochemicals for further concentration by MD.     

A predictive model of the effects of genotypic,pre‐ and postharvest stages on barley β‐glucan levels

BACKGROUND: β‐Glucan is a bioactive component of cereal grains that has many potential uses and health‐promoting benefits. Recent research has focused on improving the nutritional value of food by increasing human exposure to β‐glucan. This study looks at the development of a farm‐level baseline model (including scenario analysis) to evaluate the impact of pre‐ and postharvest stages (including genotypic factors, environmental conditions, agronomic factors and storage) on β‐glucan levels in barley. Monte Carlo simulation techniques were employed to model various stages in pre‐ and postharvest processes and to simulate the factors influencing the level of β‐glucan content in both hulled barley (H_B) and hull‐less barley (H_LB) genotypes. RESULTS: The baseline model found that the mean simulated level of β‐glucan was 40.99 and 56.77 g kg^?1 for H_B and H_LB genotypes respectively. A sensitivity analysis highlighted that genotype was the most important parameter in determining the final β‐glucan content (correlation coefficients of 0.66 and 0.78 for H_B and H_LB respectively), more so than any of the agronomic factors analysed. The scenario analysis highlighted the importance of harvest date (scenario 2) and storage conditions (scenario 3), with a potential 32.6 and 32.7% decrease in β‐glucan (compared with the baseline model) if harvesting is carried out early during physiological maturity (i.e. at growth stage 92) and a potential 20.1 and 19.5% increase in β‐glucan for H_B and H_LB respectively if storage time is minimised. CONCLUSION: This study predicted the influence of genotypic, pre‐ and postharvest operations on β‐glucan content and thus allows strategies to be identified to influence β‐glucan content in barley products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Determination of γ‐aminobutyric acid in Chinese rice wines and its evolution during fermentation

γ‐Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a functional amino acid that is widely present in Chinese rice wine. In this study, high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detection (HPLC‐UV) was established for the determination of γ‐aminobutyric acid in 22 Chinese rice wines collected from the Shaoxing region of China. Furthermore, the evolution of GABA was studied in Chinese rice wine during primary and post‐fermentation process. Results showed that the HPLC method was reliable with good linearity, accuracy, precision and stability. Additionally, the GABA content varied significantly in the 22 Chinese rice wines, and the content was much higher in wine samples with long aging periods. Regarding the evolution of GABA in Chinese rice wine during the brewing process, the level slowly increased during primary fermentation. A decrease in GABA was observed in the wine at the early stage of the post‐fermentation process. However, a marked increase on the GABA content occurred in wine at the late stage of post‐fermentation. The findings from this study are that HPLC can be successfully applied to determine GABA in Shaoxing brewed rice wines, and further provide useful information on quality control of such wines. Copyright © 2017 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Effects of malting on β‐glucanase and phytase activity in barley grain

The effects of malting on β‐glucan and phytate were investigated in one naked and one covered barley by a full factorial experiment with three factors (steeping temperature, moisture content and germination temperature) each with two levels. Analysis of total content of β‐glucan in the malted samples showed small changes after steeping at the high temperature (48 °C), while steeping at the lower temperature (15 °C) gave a significantly lower content. This trend was even stronger for β‐glucan unextractable at 38 °C. Analysis of the activity of β‐glucanase for the samples steeped at 15 °C showed a strong increase over the time of germination, while those steeped at 48 °C had a much slower development. The other two factors influenced the outcome to a small extent, mainly because the steeping temperature was the most important factor overall where any changes in β‐glucan and β‐glucanase were observed. When β‐glucan was extracted at 100 °C, a larger yield was obtained, and this was influenced by the steeping temperature in a much stronger way than for β‐glucan extracted at 38 °C. Determination of average molecular weight for β‐glucan extracted at 100 °C gave a lower value for samples steeped at 15 than at 48 °C. The design did not have any large effects on phytate degradation and phytase activity. However, it indicated that selective control of the enzymes might be possible, since phytase activity was barely affected by the parameters studied, while β‐glucanase was heavily affected. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of Innovative Processing on γ‐Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Contents in Plant Food Materials

Over the last several decades, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) has attracted much attention due to its diverse physiological implications in plants, animals, and microorganisms. GABA naturally occurs in plant materials and its concentrations may vary considerably, from traces up to μmol/g (dry basis) depending on plant matrix, germination stage, and processing conditions, among other factors. However, due to its important biological activities, considerable interest has been shown by both food and pharmaceutical industries to improve its concentration in plants. Natural and conventional treatments such as mechanical and cold stimulation, anoxia, germination, enzyme treatment, adding exogenous glutamic acid (Glu) or gibberellins, and bacterial fermentation have been shown effective to increase the GABA concentration in several plant materials. However, some of these treatments can modify the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or functional properties of plants. Recent consumer demand for food products which are “healthy,” safe and, having added benefits (nutraceuticals/functional components) has led to explore new ways to improve the content of bioactive compounds while maintaining desirable organoleptic and physicochemical properties. Along this line, nonthermal processing technologies (such as high‐pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, and ultrasound, among others) have been shown as means to induce the biosynthesis and accumulation of GABA in plant foods; and the main findings so far reported are presented in this review. Moreover, the most novel tools for the identification of metabolic response in plant materials based on GABA analysis will be also described.