Retention of alkylresorcinols, antioxidant activity and fatty acids following traditional hulled wheat processing

This study compared alkylresorcinols, fatty acids and antioxidant activity retention following hulled wheat processing by traditional and modern plants. Glume removal and kernel crushing were considered as characterising steps. Samples were collected from two traditional einkorn wheat bulgur processing plants in Turkey, one emmer wheat processing plant in Armenia and a modern two stage processing plant in Italy, also including pearling. Whole kernels showed higher alkylresorcinol contents (759–1037 mg kg−1dm) and antioxidant activity with respect to the correspondent crushed products. Following crushing a decrease of total alkylresorcinol content was observed, with lowest amounts detected in the semolina-like fractions. Pearling did not determine a significant decrease of alkylresorcinols of the pearled output. However the waste obtained from pearling, mainly composed of bran parts, showed the highest alkylresorcinol amount (1493 mg kg−1dm) and antioxidant activity. The waste from pearling resulted also the richest fraction of unsaturated alkylresorcinol homologues and unsaturated fatty acids. Among fatty acids, C18:2, C18:1 and C16 resulted the most abundant compounds in all fractions. All the plants showed similar performance, with higher alkylresorcinol decreases due to the loss of specific parts of kernel, such as germ and bran.