Changes of the Content of Water-soluble Bioactive Compounds during the Malting Process of Spelt Wheat (Triticum aestivum var. spelta)

Spelt wheat (Triticum aestivum var. spelta), a hexaploid variety of the genus Triticum is a cereal closely related to common wheat (Triticum aestivum). The major non-starchy carbohydrates in spelt wheat are arabinoxylans and fructans. Furthermore spelt wheat is known to contain relatively high levels of thiamine and riboflavin, two vitamins from the B-group. In this work the influence of a standard malting process on the content of these four bioactive compounds was studied. The amount of water-extractable arabinoxylan increased significantly during the malting process, as well as the water-extractable riboflavin content. The fructan concentration in the analysed samples showed a slight increase and thiamine levels staid stable.