Effect of Drying, Polarity and Molecular Weight on Oat Chemical Content and Bioactivity

Abstract

This study’s outcome brings some information about oat phenolic compounds characteristics and response to thermal drying process, and fractionation by polarity and molecular weight; also suggests that Moroccan oat varieties may serve as a good source of natural antioxidants. In this study, total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) of two Moroccan oat varieties (Amlal and Tissir) were investigated. Additionally, oat extracts and fractions were analyzed with regard to their antioxidant activities (AA) using DPPH radicals’ cation, and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. The results indicated that TPC ranged from 8.12 ± 0.11 to 27.56 ± 0.40 mg of gallic acid equivalent/gram of extract dry weight (edw). While, TFC ranged from 6.66 ± 0.90 to 27.60 ± 0.71 mg RE/g of edw. The results demonstrated that the hydro-methanolic fraction has the highest TPC and TFC compared to other extracts in both varieties, and that thermal drying process increase oat phenolic content and AA. A significant correlation was found between phytochemical contents and AA.

Keywords:

• Oat
• antioxidant
• drying
• polarity
• phenolic