Health Benefits of Cereal Grain- and Pulse-Derived Proteins.

Pulses and whole grains are considered staple foods that provide a significant amount of calories, fibre and protein, making them key food sources in a nutritionally balanced diet. Additionally, pulses and whole grains contain many bioactive compounds such as dietary fibre, resistant starch, phenolic compounds and mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids that are known to combat chronic disease. Notably, recent research has demonstrated that protein derived from pulse and whole grain sources contains bioactive peptides that also possess disease-fighting properties. Mechanisms of action include inhibition or alteration of enzyme activities, vasodilatation, modulation of lipid metabolism and gut microbiome and oxidative stress reduction. Consumer demand for plant-based proteins has skyrocketed primarily based on the perceived health benefits and lower carbon footprint of consuming foods from plant sources versus animal. Therefore, more research should be invested in discovering the health-promoting effects that pulse and whole grain proteins have to offer.

In vitro assessment of oat ß-glucans nutritional properties: An inter-laboratory methodology evaluation.

The purpose of this inter-laboratory study was to test the repeatability and reproducibility of an in vitro method aimed at analyzing the physicochemical properties under physiological conditions of ß-glucans from foods. After evaluating ß-glucans molar mass and quantification methods using five ß-glucan controls, four laboratories ran six oat-based products through in vitro digestion, measured ß-glucans solubility and viscosity and molar mass of solubilized ß-glucans. The determination of the molar mass of ß-glucan controls, their viscosity in solution and ß-glucans content in food samples exhibited relative standard reproducibility of 20.9-40.9%, 10.2-40.9% and 2.3-14.8%, respectively. After in vitro digestion, relative standard reproducibility ranged 12.1-60.0%, 12.2-64.3% and 9.7-36.3% for molar mass of extracted ß-glucans, their viscosity and their solubility, respectively. Although the characterization methods were satisfactory within the limits of current technology, the in vitro extraction contributed significantly to the uncertainty of final characterization.

A double-blind randomised controlled trial testing the effect of a barley product containing varying amounts and types of fibre on the postprandial glucose response of healthy volunteers.

The aim of the present study was to determine if the consumption of barley tortillas varying in fibre and/or starch composition affected postprandial glucose, insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) or peptide YY concentrations. A double-blind, randomised, controlled trial was performed with twelve healthy adults. They each consumed one of five barley tortillas or a glucose drink on six individual visits separated by at least 1 week. Tortillas were made from 100% barley flour blends using five different milling fractions to achieve the desired compositions. All treatments provided 50 g of available carbohydrate and were designed to make the following comparisons: (1) low-starch amylose (0%) v. high-starch amylose (42%) with similar ß-glucan and insoluble fibre content; (2) low ß-glucan (4.5 g) v. medium ß-glucan (7.8 g) v. high ß-glucan (11.6 g) with similar starch amylose and insoluble fibre content; and (3) low insoluble fibre (7.4 g) v. high insoluble fibre (19.6 g) with similar starch amylose and ß-glucan content. Blood was collected at fasting and at multiple intervals until 180 min after the first bite/sip of the test product. Amylose and insoluble fibre content did not alter postprandial glucose and insulin, but high-ß-glucan tortillas elicited a lower glucose and insulin response as compared to the low-ß-glucan tortillas. The tortillas with high insoluble fibre had a higher AUC for GLP-1 as compared to the tortillas with low insoluble fibre, whereas amylose and ß-glucan content had no effect. Results show that processing methods can be used to optimise barley foods to reduce postprandial blood glucose responses and factors that may influence satiety.

Development of a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to quantify soluble beta-glucans in oats and barley.

A set of 31 murine monoclonal antibodies was produced against (1-->3,1-->4)beta-d-glucan from oats (Avena sativa L.) chemically cross-linked to keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Monoclonal antibodies were tested for their cross-reactivity to related and unrelated polysaccharides. The antibodies reacted strongly to unmodified beta-glucan from oats and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and to lichenan from Icelandic moss, a polysaccharide with a structure similar to that of beta-glucan but which is not encountered in cereals. Cross-reaction to other polysaccharides tested was minimal at physiological levels. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that could routinely detect and quantify nanogram levels of soluble beta-glucan extracted from the flour of oats or barley was designed with one of these monoclonal antibodies. The beta-glucan extraction procedure from ground oat and barley samples and the ELISA were both optimized for reproducibility, accuracy, and throughput, and results were compared to values obtained from an established, commercially available enzyme-based assay. Correlations between the two assays were consistently high (r (2) > 0.9), indicating that the ELISA presented in this paper is a valuable alternative for assaying beta-glucan levels in cereals and cereal products, both routinely and in preparations in which beta-glucans are present in nanogram amounts. Development of the extraction procedure for ELISA is discussed.