Physicochemical and bioactive properties of a high β-glucan barley variety 'Betaone' affected by germination processing.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of germination on the bioactive phytochemicals in the barley variety 'Betaone', which has high β-glucan content. Betaone barley seeds were germinated for 24, 48, 72, and 96 h at 25 °C in a growth chamber. As the germination period progressed, crude protein, crude fat, and crude ash levels increased, while starch content decreased. β-Glucan content significantly decreased during the germination period. However, after 96 h of germination, it was still 4.31%, which is similar to the amount found in ordinary barley varieties. The α- and β-amylase activities in Betaone barley increased, thereby significantly decreasing pasting viscosities (p ≤ 0.05), as germination progressed. The water absorption index increased in the early germination stage, subsequently decreasing as germination progressed. While the water solubility index fell in the first stage of germination, it subsequently increased as germination progressed. Oil absorption decreased as germination progressed. Bioactive compounds, in particular the total phenolic (122.84-322.67 μg/g), total flavonoid (32.20-124.09 μg/g), and GABA content (176.94-212.64 μg/g), increased as germination progressed. The antioxidative properties mainly DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity also increased during the germination period. Therefore, these findings could be a useful method for improving new products with enhanced bioactive phytochemicals.