Locked in wheat, once released they protect from diseases
wheat is more nutritious than was previously known. But this nutrition--polyphenols--is bound to carbohydrate
molecules and cannot be accessed by the body when consumed. Fermenting the wheat is the key to the release of these phenols that act as
scavengers of harmful chemicals and keep coronary diseases, cancer and diabetes at bay. A research team used two species of filamentous
fungi (Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus awamori nakazawa) to ferment wheat. The method not only enhanced wheat nutritionally,
it also proved to be cost-effective and safe.
Fermentation by fungi is a method that has successfully been used to enhance the free phenol content of beans. It was not explored in wheat.
Fifty grammes of wheat grains were taken as substrate, steamed and sprayed with fungal spores.After a few days, the free phenol content of the
substrate was observed to increase two to five times. The study found that fungal enzymes--alpha-amylase, beta-glucosidase and
xylanase--played a vital role. The peak of enzymatic activity coincided with an increase in the phenol content.
"The maximum phenol content obtained from A oryzae-aided fermentation was significantly higher than what A awamori
nakazawa yielded," said researcher Rintu Banerjee, who led a team from the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department of Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The study, to appear in the June 2009 issue of Bioresource Technology, also said the taste of wheat
remained the same. The fungi have been declared safe through years of usage and various researches, added Banerjee.
A oryzae occurs in the soils of Japan and China. It has been used in the production of soy sauce and sake for many years. Enzymes like
protease and amylase obtained from A nakazawa are used in the food industry.
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