Towards improving the nutrition and health of the aged: the role of sprouted grains and encapsulation of bioactive compounds in functional bread – a review

Summary Aging reduces the absorption of nutrients. Literature related to functional bread processing techniques including sprouting of grains and the application of encapsulation technology and the bioavailability of bioactives was reviewed. Functional ingredients including sprouted/germinated grain particularly brown rice and wheat flours enhance the bioactive properties of functional bread. Ingredients with high polyphenol content such as lavender and melissa by‐products, tea‐extracts and aronia powder enhance the bioactive content and appear to have a favourable effect on the shelf‐life of bread and antioxidant status of consumers. Incorporation of encapsulated bioactive compounds into bread have a huge potential to improve the bread quality and increase the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds including polyphenols. More investigations and new areas of research should focus on sprouted grain flours and the application of encapsulation technologies especially nanoencapsulation to optimize the bioactivity, storage, bioavailability and nutritional profile of bread to improve nutrition and health with aging. Functional bread formulated with the addition of sprouted grains can be used to deliver microencapsulated bioactive ingredients/compounds into the human gut. Baking and storage conditions impact on the bioactive properties of functional bread.