Comparison of Canadian Naked Oat Cultivars: Nutritional, Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity

Oats (Avena Sativa L.) is cultivated for numerous purposes such as feed, human consumption or pharmaceutical components. Oats is gaining in popularity as it is a well-balanced grain and a good source of protein, carbohydrate, fibres and presents an advantageous fatty acid profiles. Oats provides also numerous phenolic compounds such as avenanthramides1. In Canada, oat bran, rolled oats, whole oat flour and oat products presenting specific concentrations can display a health claim for beta-glucan oat fibre capacity to lower blood cholesterol2. However, changes in environmental conditions are suspected to impact future production due to rise in temperatures and changes in precipitations. In fact, Statistic Canada reported that total oat production decreased by 43 per cent nationally to 2.6 million tonnes in 2021, mainly due to dry conditions in Western Canada. Harvested oat acres were down 15.4% and yields dropped 32.6 % bushels per acre3. Naked oats (Avena Nuda) cultivars present similar health characteristics as conventional oats but they have not yet reached the same level of popularity among users. Knowing that naked oats have good drought resistance4, perhaps opting for naked oat cultivars could be an interesting market avenue for this healthy grain given this climate change era. Through a circular economy project aimed at reducing residues from food processing, five (5) Canadian naked oat cultivars grown in 2019 and 2021 (Quebec, Canada) were characterized for their nutritional content: total protein, amino acid profile, carbohydrate, lipids, fatty acid profile, fibre and beta-glucan. Atherogenicity and thrombogenicity indices were calculated. Total phenolic content, beta-glucan, antioxidant activity and avenanthramides compositions were also measured. The values were compared to conventional Quaker cultivar and breakfast cereals to assess the impact of processing methods. Results to date suggest that seasonal conditions and cultivar genotypes have an impact on the global nutritional composition of naked oat. In times of climate changes and productivity challenges, nutrient profiles and bio-compounds of various crops should be monitored. In our new global warming reality, naked oat could help reduce crop residue and be a solution to meet the growing needs of various markets such as food, feed, cosmetic and pharmaceutical.