Changes in the content of biologically active substances during germination of cereal and legume grains

Introduction.The research aims to study the changes in the content of bioactive compounds accumulated during the swelling and subsequent germination of cereal and legume grains, as well as to provide their qualitative and quantitative assessment.Materials and methods.Wheat, green lentil, pea, and soybean grains swollen in drinking or in a weak radonic mineral water and germinated.The content of amino acids was determined by chromatography; fats by Soxhlet method; total phenols by Folin-Ciocalteu; total flavonoids by spectral and antioxidant activity by DPPH methods.Results and discussion.The amount of amino acids during the grain germination process increased.The obtained results indicate the positive effect of mineral water on the accumulation of amino acids.Particularly good results were observed for soybean and pea samples.The change in the total amount of fats (%) during the process of grain swelling and germination was determined.An increase in the amount of fat was observed in all samples, especially in samples swollen in mineral water and subsequently germinated.The best results were observed for pea (increased by 1.47 times) and lentil (increased by 1.23 times) grains.Based on the study of phenolic compounds, it was found that the amount of total phenols in germinated grains increased compared to the original ones, except pea grains, where a slight decrease was observed.The amounts of total phenols changed significantly in grains germinated after swelling in weak radonic mineral water, compared to grains germinated after swelling in drinking water.The best results were shown by wheat, soybean, and green lentil grains.As for the content of flavonoids, their increase was found in the all test samples, especially in grains germinated after swelling in mineral water.Based on the comparative analysis of the flavonoid content, soybean (1.80 mg/g) and green lentil (1.29 mg/g) grains were considered the best, followed by peas (1.02 mg/g).A similar result was observed for the content of phenolic acids, mg/g: green lentils, 1.61; soybeans, 1.52; peas, 0.85.It was established that when using mineral water for swelling, the antioxidant activity of the test samples increased?%: soybeans by 45.8; peas by 43.6; green lentils by 40.87%.It was also shown that the grains germinated after swelling in mineral water possess high antioxidant activity, %: soybeans, 64.51; peas, 46.63; green lentils, 42.5.Conclusions.The use of weak radonic mineral water has a positive effect on activation of the grain swelling and germination, as well as accumulation of biologically active substances in them.