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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Functional Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #267953

Title: Influence of jet-cooking corn bran on its antioxidant activities, phenolic contents and viscoelastic properties

Author
item Inglett, George
item Chen, Diejun
item Berhow, Mark

Submitted to: Food and Nutrition Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/24/2011
Publication Date: 9/26/2011
Citation: Inglett, G.E., Chen, D., Berhow, M.A. 2011. Influence of jet-cooking corn bran on its antioxidant activities, phenolic contents and viscoelastic properties. Food and Nutrition Sciences. 2:521-529.

Interpretive Summary: The jet cooking procedure has been successfully used for many grain products to obtain the potential healthy food ingredients. Corn bran is an excellent source of antioxidant activities and dietary fiber for jet cooking studies. Information is limited on total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity for corn bran. Therefore, this research was conducted to explore the jet cooking technology for antioxidant compounds and characterization of corn bran fractions that could have significant impact on their health benefits. This study demonstrated that jet-cooked corn bran under alkaline conditions produced more soluble solids with increased total phenolic content and high water holding capacities along with interesting viscoelastic properties but without increasing antioxidant activities. Jet-cooking corn bran without alkali increased the soluble solids that contained higher phenolic content with increased antioxidant activity and water holding capacity compared with control. This study suggested that corn bran is an important source of phytochemicals including phenolics having antioxidant activities. The jet-cooking technology may increase the value of corn bran by creating new photochemical and functional food ingredients.

Technical Abstract: Corn bran was subjected to high-shear and jet-cooking with or without alkaline treatment. The highest antioxidant activity was found in the soluble solids from jet-cooked corn bran without alkaline treatment. Jet-cooking under alkaline conditions resulted in a soluble fraction having the highest phenolic content but without increasing antioxidant activity. Phenolic contents of soluble solids were significantly higher than the insoluble solids. A colorimetric method using spectrophotometer was suitable to determine total phenolic content, whereas LC-ESI-MS technology was used for identifying important individual phenolic acids, namely caffeic, coumaric and ferulic acid. The insoluble solids from alkaline treatment had the highest water holding capacity and interesting viscoelastic properties. These results suggested that jet-cooking corn bran may be a useful processing procedure for creating phytochemical and functional products.