Barley is the fourth largest cereal crop in the world.It is mainly used for feeding,beer production and food.Barley is receiving more attention from both agricultural and food scientists because of its special chemica...Barley is the fourth largest cereal crop in the world.It is mainly used for feeding,beer production and food.Barley is receiving more attention from both agricultural and food scientists because of its special chemical composition and health benefits.In comparison with other cereal crops,including wheat,rice and maize,barley grains are rich in dietary fiber(such asβ-glucan)and tocols,which are beneficial to human health.It is well proved that diets rich in those chemicals can provide protection against hypertension,cardiovascular disease,and diabetes.Barley has been widely recognized to have great potential as a healthy or functional food.In this review,we present information about studies on the phys-ical structure of the barley grain and the distribution of its main chemical components,nutrient and functional composition of barley grain and their health benefits,and the approaches of improving and utilizing the nutrient and functional chemicals in barley grain.With the development of processing technologies,functional components in barley grains,especiallyβ-glucan,can be efficiently extracted and concentrated.Moreover,nutrient and functional components in barley grains can be efficiently improved by precise breeding and agronomic approaches.The review high-lights the great potential of barley used as healthy and functional foods,and may be instructive for better utilization of barley in food processing.展开更多
基金the Science and Technology Program of Zhejiang Province of China(LGN20C130007,2021 C02064-3,2020C02002)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.32171917)the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System(CARS-05).
文摘Barley is the fourth largest cereal crop in the world.It is mainly used for feeding,beer production and food.Barley is receiving more attention from both agricultural and food scientists because of its special chemical composition and health benefits.In comparison with other cereal crops,including wheat,rice and maize,barley grains are rich in dietary fiber(such asβ-glucan)and tocols,which are beneficial to human health.It is well proved that diets rich in those chemicals can provide protection against hypertension,cardiovascular disease,and diabetes.Barley has been widely recognized to have great potential as a healthy or functional food.In this review,we present information about studies on the phys-ical structure of the barley grain and the distribution of its main chemical components,nutrient and functional composition of barley grain and their health benefits,and the approaches of improving and utilizing the nutrient and functional chemicals in barley grain.With the development of processing technologies,functional components in barley grains,especiallyβ-glucan,can be efficiently extracted and concentrated.Moreover,nutrient and functional components in barley grains can be efficiently improved by precise breeding and agronomic approaches.The review high-lights the great potential of barley used as healthy and functional foods,and may be instructive for better utilization of barley in food processing.