PRODUCTION OF β-GLUCAN CONCENTRATE BY OAT GERMINATION

Today industrial processes manufacturing functional food with elevated β-glucan fraction are vulnerable due to heavy losses in energy and valuable human nutrients, and that calls for new technological solutions. Oat malting is discussed as an approach to obtain β-glucan concentrates rich with protein, vitamins, enzymes by reducing starch level. Hulless (or naked) oat malting duration was evaluated to control polysaccharide composition in grains. Amylolytic enzymes complex was demonstrated to degrade starch in 15 days from 59.5% to 31%, with β-glucan level rising correspondingly from 6.1% to 16.0%. It was noted that up to 6% of β-glucan can be synthesized in sprouts. Simultaneously, sprouting was accompanied by activation of endo-β-1,3-glucanase in aleuronic layer, and the maximal activity was observed on the 6th to 7th days of malting. This enzyme converts β-glucans to oligomers with lower molecular mass — β-glucan oligosaccharides, with concentration of the latter reaching 6% on the 15th day of malting.