LAUSR

BACKGROUND In recent years, an increasing interest in healthy functional foods has been documented among health-conscious consumers. Steam explosion (SE)-treated black-grained wheat (BGW) bran was explored for the development of chiffon cakes with high nutritional and functional value. RESULTS The content of crude fat and total starch decreased with increasing SE pressure, while water-holding capacity and antioxidant activity increased, suggesting SE at 0.6-1.0 MPa could be an effective technique for enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of wheat bran. The content of protein, Fe, Zn, Mn, Zn and soluble dietary fiber, and capacity of water-holding, oil-binding, swelling, cholesterol binding and cation-exchange, and antioxidant activity of SE BGW bran were better than those of SE white-grained wheat bran. The addition of SE bran (0.8 MPa) to flour significantly decreased the peak viscosity, final viscosity and setback, and increased the pasting temperature. The effect of SE bran on the pasting properties of low-gluten and middle-gluten flour was stronger than that of high-gluten flour. SE BGW bran altered the physicochemical properties of chiffon cakes. When 6% SE BGW bran (0.8 MPa) was added, chiffon cakes exhibited good specific volume, hardness, chewiness and other sensory qualities. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that SE at 0.6-1.0 MPa is an effective technique for enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of wheat bran. SE BGW bran can be alternatives to food materials for developing health functional cereal-based products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.