‘Underutilized’ cereal bran holds bread fiber promise: Study
Published in the Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, wheat, rice and barley bran were chemically cleaned, ground and incorporated into bread and pasta.
“Cereal brans, being a good source of vitamins and other nutrients, are underutilized as a functional food component,” the researchers wrote.
However, they said that effective processing that used chemicals, reduced the antinutrient components in the milling by-product thus enhancing the functionality of the bran. Antinutrients included phytic acid, total polyphenols, oxalates and saponins (Baccou et al. 1977; Fenwick and Oakenfull 1983).
“These processed brans can be utilized in the development of functional products as a fiber supplement. Hence, it can go a long way in supplying the required quantities of cheap and easily available dietary fiber and protein to various segments of our population and also results in profitable utilization of by-products of milling,” they wrote.
The crude fiber levels were higher in the enriched bread product.
Accepted in consumer testing
In addition, the products that incorporated the brans were acceptable among consumers.
The enriched bread was scored on a par with the control product. “Contributing factors were better appearance, color and texture,” the researchers said.
For wheat bran, up to 15% enrichment was accepted. Levels higher than 20% “impaired bread quality”.
“Cereal bran-enriched products have a universal appeal and area a good carrier for supplying nutrition to people who are health conscious. It is essential to establish the processing conditions for different cereal brans, with a view of assessing its potential for adding value and industrial applications.”
A challenge: Reducing the antinutrient components
Decreasing the antinutrients in cereal brans had typically been most successful achieved using dry heat and moist heat stabilization, the researchers said. However, they focused on chemical treatments for this study.
Three chemicals were tested to clean the cereal brans – hydrogen chloride (4%) , acetic acid (1%) and calcium hydroxide (1%).
Findings showed that acetic acid used at 22% was the most effective in reducing the antinutritional factors of the cereal brans. This was following by calcium hydroxide at 22% and hydrochloric acid used at 5%.
Source: Journal of Food Processing and Preservation
Published online 24 February 2014 ahead of print, doi: 10.111/jfpp.12223
“Reduction of Antinutritional Factors in Cereal Brans for Product Development”
Authors: S. Kaur, BN. Dar, S. Pathania and S. Sharma
