Bioactive Components and Health Functions of Oat

ABSTRACT

Oats (Avena sativa L.) are a widely consumed functional cereal grain worldwide and have recently gained increasing attention due to their numerous health benefits. Oats are an excellent natural source of bioactive compounds, including β-glucan, and have broad application prospects for the development of functional foods or health products to prevent and treat of diabetes. In this review, oat bioactive compounds, including proteins, peptides, amino acids, β-glucans, resistant starch, dietary fibers, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, avenanthramides, oat saponins, and β-sitosterol are summarized, and their important biological functions are discussed, focusing on the relevant mechanisms of action. Due to their various bioactive ingredients, oats exhibit antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-hypertensive, immunomodulatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-obesity, and cardioprotective properties.

KEYWORDS:

• Avena sativa
• nutritional ingredients
• health benefits
• anti-oxidant
• anti-diabetic
• cardiovascular protection

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFE0117600); the Guizhou Science and Technology Support Project (No. 20201Y051); the Regional Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31660531); and the Guizhou Science and Technology Support Project (No. 20182292).