Exposure or release of ferulic acid from wheat aleurone: impact on its antioxidant capacity

The relationship between the aleurone cell integrity and the exposure or release of bioavailable ferulic acid (FA) with the antioxidant capacity of aleurone in in vitro and under simulated gastric conditions was explored. The antioxidant capacity of aleurone was increased by around 2-fold when its median particle size was reduced to under 50 μm. The opening of aleurone cells increased the physical exposure of FA bound to the insoluble polysaccharides, which seemed to be responsible of the increased antioxidant capacity. Synergistic combination of xylanase and feruloyl esterase was found to be the most efficient enzymatic treatment releasing up to 86% of total FA in bioaccessible forms. This enzymatic treatment significantly enhanced the radical scavenging activity of aleurone by up to 4-fold, which overlapped the overall antioxidant potential estimated from the total content of FA in aleurone. The improvement in the antioxidant capacity of aleurone was also observed in the simulated gastric digestion by inhibition of lipid oxidation.