Recent Advances in Processing Methods and Utilization of Hulless Barley and Its Nutritional Components: A Review

As a dominant crop in the plateau, hulless barley (HB) occupies an important position in traditional diets due to its unique growth adaptability and nutrition characteristics. It has attracted increasing attention due to its excellent health characteristics, including antioxidant activity, blood glucose regulation, gastrointestinal health improvement, prevention of chronic diseases, and anti-fatigue effects. However, due to structural defects or substantial nutrient loss during processing and poor palatability of HB products, it is urgent to enhance the functional characteristics by modification methods. This review summarizes and analyzes the research progress of physiological functions and processing modification technology of starch, protein, dietary fiber, and phenolic compounds in HB in recent years and discusses its application potential in the development and utilization of HB health products. After physical, chemical, biological, or combined modification treatment, the structure of HB was obviously changed, and the content of bioactive compounds increased. The hydration properties, starch digestibility, thermal stability, and storage properties of HB were significantly improved through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Whether HB was used as raw material, additive, or modified HB made of staple foods, baked products, fermented foods, and other functional foods had higher nutritional value and better taste. HB is a highly promising raw material for low-glycemic index (GI) foods and gluten-free foods. On the basis of these findings, the modified treatment can improve the quality and nutritional characteristics of HB and broaden the application and development prospects of HB in the food industry.