The aim of this work was to analyze changes occurring in cereal protein and starch composition throughout the production process of Boza for its potential exploitation as functional beverage. A sharp decrease in the extractability of albumins, globulins, glutenins and prolamins was found in the processed samples after the cooking step. This phenomenon was confirmed analyzing the extracted cereal proteins on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which also revealed an apparent decrease in the number of wheat albumin/globulin, glutenin and prolamin bands in the gruel samples in comparison with that shown by the related flours. The application of an improved extraction procedure and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis confirmed that the prolamin content in Boza decreased markedly in comparison with that of the flour samples. Under the experimental conditions applied, the resistant starch content of Boza resulted significantly higher than that of flours; thus, this beverage can be regarded as a "high fiber" food in accordance with the recent European regulations. This is the first report that throws light on changes occurring in protein and starch components throughout the production process of Boza and provides direct evidence on the low prolamin and high resistant starch contents of this traditional cereal-based beverage.
