With the increasing demand for food with health benefits, high nutritional value food materials are attracting more attention from both consumers and food manufacturers. A new study by researchers at Wilmar (Shanghai) Biotechnology Research and Development Center Co., Ltd. in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), found that germinated buckwheat, an important raw material for food and functional food production, had better nutritional value than ungerminated buckwheat.
Germination is a complex process in which significant changes in the biochemical, nutritional, and sensory characteristics occur due to the activation of dormant enzymes. As a result, the germinated seeds or sprouts are nutritionally superior to their original seeds with higher levels of nutrients, lower amounts of compounds that interfere with the absorption of nutrients, and increased protein and starch digestibility.
The germinated seeds could help in the prevention and treatment of various human diseases, but could also be helpful in improving the development of active components for functional food products and pharmaceuticals.
