Use of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid for bifortification of plant raw materials

The paper investigated the technological approach of biofortification of wheat grain based on the application of germina-tion technology in the presence of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid in order to increase its antioxidant properties. Soft wheat grain of the variety Moskovskaya-39 of the 2023 and 2024 harvests was chosen as the object of study; powders from three different manufacturers were used to create solutions of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid. In germinated wheat grain samples. in the dynamics of the process duration (12, 18, and 24 h) at varying concentration of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid solutions (0.3; 0.6, and 0.9%) the following parameters were determined: length and intensity of root system devel-opment (by measuring the root system in 1000 sample units), flavonoid content (spectrophotometrically, using ethanol solution of aluminium chloride), content of polyphenolic compounds (spectrophotometrically, using Folin–Chocalteu rea-gent), and total antioxidant activity. Two-factor planning and data processing in MathCad 14.0 software were used to identify the most effective biofortification conditions. The obtained results prove that the most pronounced positive dynam-ics of change in the indicators of length and intensity of root system development, content of flavonoids and polyphenolic compounds, as well as total antioxidant activity is observed using the concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid solutions in the range from 0.45 to 0.75% regardless of the manufacturer. The content of maximum flavonoids in the studied samples ranges between 0.50–0.52 mg/g and the one of polyphenolic compounds – between 2.19–2.40 mg/g. It has been proved that germination process under conditions of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid allows more than threefold increase in the values of antioxidant activity 52.40-54.09 mg Trolox eq./g.