The explosion of interest around the health benefits of whole grains has led to a new focus on the bioactive components of cereals, including their location and physiological effects. Grains are an important source of minerals (notably selenium, iron and zinc) and vitamins, such as folate. These nutrients are often degraded or removed by the milling or polishing of the grain to provide refined products. Measurements of these components require methodologies for analysis that must be accurate and reproducible and that provide adequate samples to allow wide screening.

The work of the 47 prominent international food scientists presented in this comprehensive volume is the direct result of the European Union’s Framework 6 HEALTHGRAIN program which focuses on the role of wholegrain cereals in reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome-related diseases. The development of routine analytical methods for this group of essential phytochemical and dietary fiber components will help food companies improve the health benefits of their products as well as their abilities to measure the bioactive ingredients in cereal-based foods.

HEALTHGRAIN Methods: Analysis of Bioactive Components in Small Grain Cereals

Cereal Foods in Diet and Health

Kaisa Poutanen

Sterols

Laura Nyström, Tanja Nurmi, Anna-Maija Lampi, and Vieno Piironen

Tocopherols and Tocotrienols

Anna-Maija Lampi, and Vieno Piironen

Analytical Procedures for Determination of Alk(en)ylresorcinols in Cereals and Cereal Products

Rikard Landberg, Afaf Kamal-Eldin, Annica A. M. Andersson, and Per Åman

Phenolic Acids

Li Li, Claudia Harflett, Michael H. Beale and Jane L. Ward

Lignan Analysis of Cereal Samples by GC/MS

Klara Ercsey, Eva Nagy-Scholz, Szilveszter Gergely, and Andras Salgo

Total Folate

Susanna Kariluoto and Vieno Piironen

Carotenoids

El-Sayed M. Abdel-Aal and J. Christopher Young

Methods for the Analysis of Selenium and Other Minerals

Jacqueline L. Stroud, Fang-Jie Zhao, Steve P. McGrath and Dave Hart

Quantitative Analysis of Oat Avenanthramides

Lena H. Dimberg and Jelena Jastrebova

Phytate

Erika Skoglund, Nils-Gunnar Carlsson and Ann-Sofie Sandberg

Anthocyanidins

J. Christopher Young and El-Sayed M. Abdel-Aal

Total Dietary Fiber

Danuta Boros and Per Åman

Quantification of Arabinoxylans and Their Degree of Branching Using Gas Chromatography

Kurt Gebruers, Christophe M. Courtin and Jan A. Delcour

Enzymatic Mapping of Arabinoxylan Structure

Luc Saulnier and Bernard Quemener

Molecular Weight Distributions of Water-Extractable ß-Glucan and Arabinoxylan

Roger Andersson, Annica Andersson and Per Åman

Spatial Mapping of Cell Wall Components in the Cereal Endosperm Using Spectroscopic, Fluorescent and Immunochemical Methods

Geraldine A. Toole, Nikolaus Wellner, Craig B. Faulds, E. N. Clare Mills, Cecile Barron, Marie Françoise Devaux and Fabienne Guillon

Screening for Dietary Fiber Constituents in Cereals by Near Infrared Spectroscopy

András Salgó, Szilveszter Gergely and Kurt Gebruers

Combining Bioactive Components with Conventional Targets in Plant Breeding Programmes

Zoltan Bedo, Mariann Rakszegi, Laszlo Láng, Kurt Gebruers, Vieno Piironen, Domenico Lafiandra, Jane Ward, Andy Phillips and Peter R. Shewry

Future Prospects for the Analysis of Bioactive Components in Cereal Grain

Jane L. Ward and Peter R. Shewry