Bioactive Compounds and Quality Evaluation of Red-Pigmented Rice Processed by Germination and Roasting.

Red-pigmented rice was germinated and processed to develop germinated red rice tea, and the changes in physicochemical, bioactive, and microbial properties due to germination and roasting were investigated. The moisture and crude ash contents of red rice decreased after germination and roasting. Crude protein and crude fat contents increased after germination but slightly decreased after roasting. Total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities) increased following germination and heat treatment. However, the increased levels of γ-amino butyric acid after germination significantly decreased during the subsequent roasting step. In addition, total bacteria, yeast, and mold counts increased during the germination process but decreased after heat treatment as compared to those in the original grain; Escherichia coli was not detected. Therefore, germination and subsequent roasting could effectively enhance the contents of the most bioactive compounds and maintain microbial stability in red-pigmented rice.

Assessment of biochemical compounds and antioxidant enzyme activity in barley and wheatgrass under water-deficit condition.

Wheatgrass and barley grass are freshly sprouted leaves of wheat and barley seeds and are rich sources of phytochemicals. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of drought stress on the biochemical compounds and antioxidant activities of barley grass and wheatgrass extracts. The grass was cultivated in an organic soil growing medium with different levels of drought stress (a control with 100% water holding capacity (WHC), mild drought stress with 75% WHC, moderate drought stress with 50% WHC, and severe drought stress with 25% WHC) in a growth chamber by controlling temperature (20/15 °C, day/night), light (12/12 h, light/dark; intensity 150 µmol m-2  s-1 with quantum dot light-emitting diodes), and relative humidity (60%) for 7 days. The drought stress showed increased levels of biochemical compounds, especially phenolics, flavonoids, and vitamin C, in both barley grass and wheatgrass extracts. The wheatgrass extracts showed 1.38-1.67 times higher phenolics, flavonoids, and vitamin C contents than the barley grass extracts did. The antioxidant (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging activity, and nitrite-scavenging activity) and antioxidant enzymes (guaiacol peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase) were the highest under severe drought stress in both barley grass and wheatgrass extracts; and the wheatgrass extracts showed 1.20-5.70 times higher antioxidant enzyme activities than the barley grass extracts did. Proper drought-stress treatment of barley grass and wheatgrass may be a convenient and efficient method to increase biochemical compounds and antioxidants in our diet to exploit the related health benefits. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of Temperature Conditions during Growth on Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Potential of Wheat and Barley Grasses.

Wheat and barley grasses are freshly sprouted leaves of wheat and barley seeds, and are rich sources of phytochemicals. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of day and night temperatures on the growth, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant potential of wheat and barley grasses. Briefly, each grass was cropped in an organic growing medium at 10/5 °C, 20/15 °C, and 30/25 °C (day/night temperature) in a growth chamber by maintaining specific light (12/12 h light/dark; light intensity 150 µmol photons m-2 s-1) and humidity (60%) conditions for 8 days. The highest growth parameters (height, weight, and yield) were observed at the 20/15 °C growth conditions in both types of grass. Conversely, the lowest growth parameters were observed at 10/5 °C. However, the low growth temperature of 10/5 °C resulted in increased levels of bioactive compounds (total phenol, total flavonoid, and total vitamin C), antioxidant activities (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid and 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging activity)), and antioxidant enzymes (guaiacol peroxidase activity, catalase activity, and glutathione reductase) in both types of grass. Therefore, proper temperature growth conditions of wheat and barley grasses may be a convenient and efficient method to increase bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential in our diet to exploit the related health benefits.

Physicochemical and bioactive properties of a high ß-glucan barley variety 'Betaone' affected by germination processing.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of germination on the bioactive phytochemicals in the barley variety 'Betaone', which has high ß-glucan content. Betaone barley seeds were germinated for 24, 48, 72, and 96 h at 25 °C in a growth chamber. As the germination period progressed, crude protein, crude fat, and crude ash levels increased, while starch content decreased. ß-Glucan content significantly decreased during the germination period. However, after 96 h of germination, it was still 4.31%, which is similar to the amount found in ordinary barley varieties. The α- and ß-amylase activities in Betaone barley increased, thereby significantly decreasing pasting viscosities (p ≤ 0.05), as germination progressed. The water absorption index increased in the early germination stage, subsequently decreasing as germination progressed. While the water solubility index fell in the first stage of germination, it subsequently increased as germination progressed. Oil absorption decreased as germination progressed. Bioactive compounds, in particular the total phenolic (122.84-322.67 µg/g), total flavonoid (32.20-124.09 µg/g), and GABA content (176.94-212.64 µg/g), increased as germination progressed. The antioxidative properties mainly DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity also increased during the germination period. Therefore, these findings could be a useful method for improving new products with enhanced bioactive phytochemicals.

Consumer Preference, Quality, and Safety of Organic and Conventional Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, and Cereals.

Growing and purchasing demand for organic fresh produce is increasing rapidly. Consumers are aware of health, environmental safety, pesticide harmfulness, nutrients, bioactive compounds, and safe food. Many research works are available on organic and conventional fresh produce. As organic fresh produce growing and purchasing demand is increasing, it has become necessary to review the recent trends in quality, safety, and consumer preferences of organic and conventional fresh food products. A few reports have been compiled on organic and conventional fresh produce. Researchers have started working on organic and conventional fresh produce with the help of modern technology to improve nutritional and functional quality, safety, and consumer preferences. Nutritional and functional quality, safety, and consumer preferences depend on cultivation techniques, treatment, crop cultivar, and appearance of products. Therefore, it is necessary to compile the literature on organic and conventional fresh produce based on quality, safety, and consumer preferences.

Grape terpenoids: flavor importance, genetic regulation, and future potential.

Terpenes significantly affect the flavor and quality of grapes and wine. This review summarizes recent research on terpenoids with regard to grape wine. Although, the grapevine terpene synthase gene family is the largest identified, genetic modifications involving terpenes to improve wine flavor have received little attention. Key enzyme modulation alters metabolite production. Over the last decade, the heterologous manipulation of grape glycosidase has been used to alter terpenoids, and cytochrome P450s may affect terpene synthesis. Metabolic and genetic engineering can further modify terpenoid metabolism, while using transgenic grapevines (trait transfer to the plant) could yield more flavorful wine. We also discuss traits involved in wine aroma quality, and the strategies that can be used to improve grapevine breeding technology.

Influence of selenium biofortification on the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wheat microgreen extract.

The study was conducted to confirm the effects of selenium biofortification on the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wheat microgreen extract. The microgreens were cultivated in the DFT hydroponic system with different concentrations of Se (0 [control], 0.125, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 mg/L from sodium selenite) in a growth chamber by controlling temperature (25/20 °C, day/night), light (12 h light/dark; intensity 150 µmol‧m-2‧s-1 with white fluorescence lamp), and humidity (60%) for 10 days. Se biofortification increased the germination rate and decreased microgreen length and yield. Chlorophyll and carotenoid levels increased in the Se-biofortified microgreen extract. Bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids, vitamin C, and anthocyanin significantly increased in 0.25-0.50 mg/L of Se-biofortified microgreen extracts. Antioxidant (ABTS, DPPH, NSA and SOD-like) activity also increased at moderate levels (0.25-0.50 mg/L) of Se biofortification. Therefore, Se biofortification may be useful for the industrial manufacture of new products from wheat microgreen extract.

Comparative Analyses on the Bioactive Compounds and in Vitro Antioxidant Capacity of Tea Infusions Prepared from Selected Medicinal Fruits.

This study was conducted to analyze the bioactive compounds and in vitro antioxidant capacity of tea infusions prepared from whole and ground medicinal fruits, including gardenia, jujube, magnolia, quince, and wolfberries. The dried medicinal fruit samples were ground, and then passed through a 60-mesh sieve (pore size, 250 µm). Hot water (80 °C) infusions of whole and ground fruits were examined. In average of both whole and ground tea infusions, the maximum bioactive compounds were found in gardenia (ß-carotene, lycopene, and vitamin C), magnolia (total chlorophyll and anthocyanin), quince (flavonoid), and wolfberries (phenolic), and the maximum antioxidant capacity was found in quince (ABTS and DPPH) and wolfberries (NSA). Whole fruit tea infusions showed a higher brightness than the ground fruit tea infusions. The total chlorophyll, anthocyanin, ß-carotene, lycopene, phenolic, flavonoid, and vitamin C contents were found to be significantly (p≤0.001) higher in the ground fruit tea infusions than in the whole fruit tea infusions; additionally, the ground fruit tea infusions had a higher antioxidant capacity especially ABTS, DPPH and NSA. Therefore, the ground fruit tea infusions appeared to be more powerful with regard to the contents of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacities than the whole fruit tea infusions.

Effect of salinity stress on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wheat microgreen extract under organic cultivation conditions.

This study was conducted to confirm the effects of salinity stress on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wheat microgreen extract. The microgreens were cultivated for 8 days in organic media with different concentrations of Na [0 (control), 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 mM from sodium chloride] which was contained in a growth chamber with controlled temperature (20/15 °C, day/night), light (14/10 h, light/dark; intensity 150 µmol·m-2·s-1 with quantum dot light-emitting diodes), and humidity (60%). Treatment with increasing concentrations of Na resulted in an increase in the Na content of microgreens. Treatment with 12.5 mM of NaCl significantly maximized ß-carotene (1.21 µg/mL), phenolic acid (41.70 µg/mL), flavonoid (165.47 µg/mL), and vitamin C (29.51 µg/mL) levels and the nitrite-scavenging activities (37.33%) in wheat microgreen extracts. In addition, the salt-stress caused due to treatment with 25 mM of NaCl resulted in the highest anthocyanin (51.43 µg/mL), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (89.31%), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (63.28%) radical-scavenging activity. Therefore, attaining adequate levels of salt-stress may be useful for the industrial manufacturing of new products from wheat microgreen extract.

The Effect of Heat Processing on Chemical Composition and Antioxidative Activity of Tea Made from Barley Sprouts and Wheat Sprouts.

Barley sprouts and wheat sprouts have received much interest as functional foods in many countries. In this study, the effects of heat processing and extraction temperature on the bioactive components and antioxidative properties were examined in barley and wheat sprout teas. Both barley and wheat sprout teas were processed with two different methods (steaming or pan-roasting). Crude protein was increased, and moisture content was the lowest, in the roasted barley and wheat sprout teas. Total phenolics content and flavonoid contents were significantly higher in the roasted teas than in the steamed teas. Vitamin C content was the highest after an extraction temperature of 55 °C (24.05 mg/mL) in the roasted wheat sprout tea. Both roasted barley and wheat sprout teas exhibited the most antioxidative effects in vitro, demonstrated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging and nitrite-scavenging activities. Therefore, the roasting method can be considered an appropriate technique for the production of barley and wheat sprout teas. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Barley and wheat sprouts have received much attention in recent years as functional food materials in many countries and can be consumed as a form of tea. Heat processing methods such as steaming and roasting were applied and compared to increase the bioactive components and antioxidative activity in barley and wheat sprout teas. We found that roasting showed higher bioactive components and antioxidative activity than steaming in both barley and wheat sprout teas. In addition, wheat sprouts tea showed better bioactive components and antioxidative activity compared with the barley sprout tea.

Effect of jet milling on the physicochemical properties, pasting properties, and in vitro starch digestibility of germinated brown rice flour.

Germinated brown rice (GBR) flours were prepared by hammer milling and jet milling. The effect of the milling on the physicochemical and pasting properties of the resultant flours were investigated. The jet milling of GBR resulted in flour with different particle sizes, which were air-classified into coarse and fine size fractions. As the particle size decreased, the amount of damaged starch increased. The WAI, WSI, and oil absorption of the jet-milled GBR flour was slightly lower than that of the hammer-milled flour. Increased α- and ß-amylase activities were observed in the coarse fraction of the jet-milled GBR flour compared with the hammer-milled and jet-milled fine fractions. The RVA viscosity profiles of the fine fraction of the jet-milled GBR flour were significantly higher than those of the hammer-milled or the coarse fraction of the jet-milled GBR flour. Compared with the hammer-milled flour, jet milling increased in vitro starch hydrolysis.

Enhanced transport in transistor by tuning transition-metal oxide electronic states interfaced with diamond.

High electron affinity transition-metal oxides (TMOs) have gained a central role in two-dimensional (2D) electronics by enabling unprecedented surface charge doping efficiency in numerous exotic 2D solid-state semiconductors. Among them, diamond-based 2D electronics are entering a new era by using TMOs as surface acceptors instead of previous molecular-like unstable acceptors. Similarly, surface-doped diamond with TMOs has recently yielded record sheet hole concentrations (2 × 1014 cm-2) and launched the quest for its implementation in microelectronic devices. Regrettably, field-effect transistor operation based on this surface doping has been so far disappointing due to fundamental material obstacles such as (i) carrier scattering induced by nonhomogeneous morphology of TMO surface acceptor layer, (ii) stoichiometry changes caused by typical transistor fabrication process, and (iii) carrier transport loss due to electronic band energy misalignment. This work proposes and demonstrates a general strategy that synergistically surmounts these three barriers by developing an atomic layer deposition of a hydrogenated MoO3 layer as a novel efficient surface charge acceptor for transistors. It shows high surface uniformity, enhanced immunity to harsh fabrication conditions, and benefits from tunable electronic gap states for improving carrier transfer at interfaces. These breakthroughs permit crucial integration of TMO surface doping into transistor fabrication flows and allow outperforming electronic devices to be reached.

Comparative evaluation of nutritional compositions between transgenic rice harboring the CaMsrB2 gene and the conventional counterpart.

As a part of a safety assessment of new transgenic crops, compositional equivalence studies between transgenic crops with non-transgenic comparators are almost universally required. This study was conducted to compare nutritional profiles of proximate composition, and fatty acid, amino acid, mineral, and vitamin contents, and anti-nutrients, between transgenic drought-tolerant Agb0103 rice harboring the pepper methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 gene CaMsrB2 and the parental rice cultivar, 'Ilmi' as a non-transgenic control. Both transgenic and non-transgenic rice were grown and harvested in 2 different locations. Proximate compositions of moisture, starch, protein, lipid, and ash content of Agb0103 rice were similar to parental non-transgenic rice. There were no differences between transgenic and non-transgenic rice with respect to the whole nutritional composition, except for minor locality differences for a few nutritional components. Agb0103 rice with improved resistance to drought is nutritionally equivalent to the parental rice cultivar.

Variation and correlation analysis of flavonoids and carotenoids in Korean pigmented rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars.

Flavonoids and carotenoids of pigmented rice ( Oryza sativa L.), including five black cultivars and two red cultivars, from Korea were characterized to determine the diversity among the phytochemicals and to analyze the relationships among their contents. Black cultivars were higher in flavonoids and carotenoids than the red and white cultivars. The profiles of eight phytochemicals identified from the rice grains were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the differences among cultivars. PCA could fully distinguish between these cultivars. The Heugjinjubyeo (BR-1) and Heugseolbyeo (BR-2) cultivars were separated from the others based on flavonoid and carotenoid concentrations. Flavonoid contents had a positive correlation with carotenoid contents among all rice grains. The BR-1 and BR-2 cultivars appear to be good candidates for future breeding programs because they have simultaneously high flavonoid and carotenoid contents.