Background: Reduction of post-prandial blood glucose concentrations is desirable for prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Our previous research indicated that avenanthramides (AV), a type of oat polyphenol, could play a role in modulating blood glucose. Objective: This pilot trial investigated the effects of consuming AV, in the form of a breakfast oatmeal, on reducing post-prandial blood glucose response. Design: The trial followed a randomized, double-blinded, cross-over design consisting of two acute sessions: oatmeal containing low levels of AV (LAV, 1275 mu g) vs. oatmeal with high AV (HAV, 3704 mu g). Blood glucose was measured 0-120 min and incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was calculated. Results: No differences were found between the LAV and HAV treatments with respect to mean blood glucose response or iAUC 0-120 min, nor were there any effects of treatment or time*treatment over the 2 h. Conclusion: Consumption of an oatmeal breakfast with differing amounts of AV did not reduce post-prandial blood glucose response at the levels used in this acute study. There are limited trials in this area and further research is needed to understand the potential health effects of AV in oats.

Hypertension affects over 1.2 billion adults worldwide. While numerous pharmacological treatments are available for managing hypertension, dietary approaches may also offer beneficial alternatives or complementary strategies. High molecular weight (HMW) β-glucan, a fibre found in oats, may be responsible for reductions in systolic blood pressure. This pilot trial investigated the efficacy of HMW oat β-glucan in reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure in individuals with mild hypertension. Additionally, changes in heart rate, body weight, waist circumference, and dietary intake, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fibre were assessed. This study was conducted virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial followed a randomized, double-blinded, cross-over design. During the treatment period, participants were provided breakfast cookies made from oats containing 4 g/day of HMW oat β-glucan. During the control period, participants received breakfast cookies made primarily from wheat, which does not contain a significant amount of β-glucan (0.12 g/day). Twenty-one people completed the trial. Consumption of oat β-glucan breakfast cookies for 4 weeks did not reduce systolic blood pressure (132.71 ± 1.92 vs. 132.9 ± 1.92, p = 0.95) or diastolic blood pressure (82.86 ± 1.43 vs. 82.38 ± 1.43, p = 0.98) compared to control. Waist circumference (p = 0.67), weight (p = 0.79), heart rate (p = 0.73), and dietary intake (protein (p = 29), carbohydrate (p = 0.45), fat (p = 12), and fibre (p = 0.64)) were unchanged. Our results indicate that oat β-glucan consumption does not affect systolic or diastolic blood pressure compared to a wheat-based control in middle age and older adults with mild hypertension.

This research investigated the changes in physiochemical and techno-functional properties, protein nutritional quality, and microbial properties of Canary seed flour following hydrothermal treatment. Four hairless Canary seeds were dehulled, steamed, dried, and ground to flour. The hydrothermal treatment increased the mean particle size (∼80 %), damaged starch content (∼260 %), and water absorption capacity (∼46 %), while not affecting the flour’s acidity (pH ∼6.4), bulk density (∼0.6 g/mL), or oil absorption capacity (∼2.0 %). Hydrothermal treatment affected all the pasting and thermal properties of Canary seed flour except for the pasting temperature. Nutritionally, the treatment significantly improved in vitro protein digestibility, although it did not affect protein content (∼20.0 %), amino acid content, amino acid score (0.3 – 0.5), or in vitro protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (in vitro PDCAAS) (0.2 – 0.4). Most importantly, heat treatment significantly enhanced the microbial quality by eliminating the microbial load in the raw Canary seed flour, ensuring the safety of the product. Our results suggest that hydrothermally treated canary seed flour has improved physicochemical and functional properties, making it a better substitute than its raw counterpart.

Canary seed flour is a new food ingredient that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada recently granted Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status. Stability in nutritional composition and functional properties is an essential characteristic of food ingredients for consistency in nutritional quality and performance in processing. This work assessed the effect of genotypic and environmental variation on the nutritional (protein, starch, amylose, oil, dietary fiber, minerals and fat-soluble vitamins) and pasting (as measured in viscosity (peak, trough, breakdown, final, and setback), peak time, and pasting temperatures) properties of Canary seed. The samples included four Canary seed varieties grown in randomized complete block design experiments at one location for two growing seasons. In general, the nutritional composition of Canary seed flour was not affected by genotype, growing year, and their interaction except for starch content, which was significantly affected by the growing year (p < 0.0001), and iron content, which was affected by genotypic variation (p < 0.0001). The pasting properties of Canary seed flour were significantly (p < 0.001) affected by both genotypic and growing year variation but not their interaction. Our results suggest that the food industry should measure starch and iron content prior to processing to ensure consistency in nutritional labeling. Also, for those applications where starch pasting properties are essential, the manufacturer should consider measuring the RVA pasting viscosities for every batch of raw material. The results have provided the baseline knowledge of which nutritional or functional properties of Canary seed flour can be improved through breeding and agronomy programs to ensure the reliability of Canary seed as an ingredient.

Background and Objectives: Canary seed is a novel cereal grain that needs dehulling before being used in food applications. This work aimed to develop dehulling quality scoring criteria and study the hullability of Canary seeds. Methods for dehulling Canary seeds were studied using compressed air, impact, and abrasion-type dehulling equipment. A response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design experiments to assess the effect of initial sample weight, heat treatment, tempering, and dehulling time on the dehulling efficiency and groat quality.Findings: The results suggest that tempering level and starting weight had a significant (p < .0001) positive effect, whereas time and heat treatment had a negative effect on the dehulling efficiency. Compressed air dehulling resulted in reduced broken groats and groat abrasion compared to the impact dehulling conditions studied. An optimized method was used to study the effect of genotype and growing environment on the hullability of four hairless Canary seed varieties grown in two growing years at one location. The milling yield ranged from 57% to 67% and was affected by genotype (p < .0001), growing year (p < .001), and their interaction (p < .001).Conclusions: The results suggest that breeding programs should consider the dehulling and milling quality of Canary seed. Apart from milling yield, the breeding programs and milling industry should also consider adopting visual assessment of the groat quality using the tool presented in this work.Significance and NoveltyI: n this work, a visual assessment tool for Canary seed groat quality is developed that can be used for breeding programs and industry to compare sample performance. Also, our research has provided factors to be considered by the industry when dehulling hairless Canary seeds to maximize milling yield and groat quality.

Valorizing non-conventional raw materials to obtain food products has become a crucial strategy of food processing industries for curbing the current depletion of natural resources worldwide. Thus, non-conventional starches from protein extraction residues of Canadian oat cultivars are studied regarding their technological properties. Consequently, 29 variables are evaluated in starches originating from 18 oat grain samples harvested from nine locations in Canada. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to analyze the effects of location, cultivar, and their interaction on the properties. Data are also processed using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to reduce the dataset's dimensionality. ANOVA reveals that the starches technological features are greatly affected by harvesting location. PCA and HCA grouped samples into three clusters, explaining >70% of the data variability. Cluster 1 shows the lowest means for each response variable. Cluster 2 presents the highest trough viscosity values, while cluster 3 shows a low swelling factor. For proximate analysis, significantly different values are found for ash and amylose contents. Structural and morphological studies indicate starches with low crystallinity and small, polygonal, and irregular starch granules.

Background Alcohol use disorder (AUD)-induced disruption of oral microbiota can lead to poor oral health; there have been no studies published examining the longitudinal effects of alcohol use cessation on the oral microbiome. Aim To investigate the oral microbiome during alcohol cessation during inpatient treatment for AUD. Methods Up to 10 oral tongue brushings were collected from 22 AUD patients during inpatient treatment at the National Institutes of Health. Alcohol use history, smoking, and periodontal disease status were measured. Oral microbiome samples were sequenced using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results Alpha diversity decreased linearly during treatment across the entire cohort (P = 0.002). Alcohol preference was associated with changes in both alpha and beta diversity measures. Characteristic tongue dorsum genera from the Human Microbiome Project such as Streptococcus, Prevotella, Veillonella and Haemophilus were highly correlated in AUD. Oral health-associated genera that changed longitudinally during abstinence included Actinomyces, Capnocytophaga, Fusobacterium, Neisseria and Prevotella. Conclusion The oral microbiome in AUD is affected by alcohol preference. Patients with AUD often have poor oral health but abstinence and attention to oral care improve dysbiosis, decreasing microbiome diversity and periodontal disease-associated genera while improving acute oral health.

Avenanthramides are phenolic compounds unique to oats and may contribute to health-promoting properties associated with oat consumption. This study used Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing the glucose transporters, glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) or sodium-glucose transport protein 1 (SGLT1) and human Caco-2 cells models to investigate the effect of oat avenanthramides on human intestinal glucose transporters. The presence of avenanthramide reduced the glucose uptake in a dose-dependent manner in Caco-2 cells. Glucose uptake in oocytes expressing either GLUT2 or SGLT1 was nullified by oat avenanthramide. There was no significant difference between the inhibition potencies of avenanthramides C and B. Thus, our results suggest that avenanthramides may contribute to the antidiabetic properties of oats. Practical applications The present research focus on the antidiabetic properties of avenanthramides, which are unique phenolic compounds found in oats. Inhibiting the activities of the glucose transport proteins expressed in the small intestine is a known strategy to improve the control of postprandial glucose level. We therefore examined the inhibitory effects of avenanthramides on two glucose transporters, glucose transporter 2 and sodium-glucose transport protein 1, predominantly found in the small intestine using the human small intestinal cell model Caco-2 cell line and by heterologously expressing these two transporters in the Xenopus laevis oocytes. Based on our results, we have confirmed for the first time that the glucose uptake is indeed inhibited by the presence of avenanthramides, suggesting the possibility of incorporating avenanthramides in foods to enhance postprandial glucose response, and ultimately improve the management of diabetes. Therefore, future research could consider utilizing this evidence in the development of diabetic-friendly functional foods or nutraceuticals containing avenanthramides.

Phenolic compounds (PC) in oat may possess health promoting properties. This study evaluated the effect of genotype, environment, and their interaction on the phenolic acid and avenanthramide (AVN) concentration in Canadian oat. Six cultivars were grown at eight locations across Canada in a randomised complete block design with three field replicates. Free PCs were extracted from oat groat flour and analysed using a UPLC-PDA system. The cumulative concentration of free PCs and AVN ranged from 58 to 350 and 9 to 244 µg/g, respectively. The effect of environment was significant (p < 0.0001) for the concentration of all PCs. Cultivar differences significantly influenced the concentration of all PCs but AVNs A and B. The growing location explained > 68% of the variation in the concentration of AVN. Thus understanding the genotypic and environmental triggers of individual PCs may help agronomists and breeders strategize in selecting and growing oat cultivars of interest.

AAC Justice is a white-hulled spring oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar. It was postulated to carry the crown rust resistance gene Pc91, which was effective against the prevalent crown rust races on the Canadian Prairies at the time of its release. It had very good resistance to loose and covered smut and moderate resistance to most of the prairie stem rust races, and was intermediate in reaction to the barley yellow dwarf virus. AAC Justice has a high test weight, average kernel weight, and average groat percentage and kernel plumpness. AAC Justice exhibited high yield potential in the eastern oat-growing areas of Western Canada. AAC Justice was registered (reg. no. 7439) in Canada on 15 October 2013.

BackgroundNurse researchers are well poised to study the connection of the microbiome to health and disease. Evaluating published microbiome results can assist with study design and hypothesis generation.ObjectivesThis article aims to present and define important analysis considerations in microbiome study planning and to identify genera shared across studies despite methodological differences. This methods article will highlight a workflow that the nurse scientist can use to combine and evaluate taxonomy tables for microbiome study or research proposal planning.MethodsWe compiled taxonomy tables from 13 published gut microbiome studies that had used Ion Torrent sequencing technology. We searched for studies that had amplified multiple hypervariable (V) regions of the 16S rRNA gene when sequencing the bacteria from healthy gut samples.ResultsWe obtained 15 taxonomy tables from the 13 studies, comprised of samples from four continents and eight V regions. Methodology among studies was highly variable, including differences in V regions amplified, geographic location, and population demographics. Nevertheless, of the 354 total genera identified from the 15 data sets, 25 were shared in all V regions and the four continents. When relative abundance differences across the V regions were compared, Dorea and Roseburia were statistically different. Taxonomy tables from Asian subjects had increased average abundances of Prevotella and lowered abundances of Bacteroides compared with the European, North American, and South American study subjects.DiscussionEvaluating taxonomy tables from previously published literature is essential for study planning. The genera found from different V regions and continents highlight geography and V region as important variables to consider in microbiome study design. The 25 shared genera across the various studies may represent genera commonly found in healthy gut microbiomes. Understanding the factors that may affect the results from a variety of microbiome studies will allow nurse scientists to plan research proposals in an informed manner. This work presents a valuable framework for future cross-study comparisons conducted across the globe.

Research indicates that the post-prandial glycemic benefits of consuming whole pulses are retained when consumed in a mixed meal, pureed, and ground into flours. The glycemic benefits of pulse flours when incorporated into extruded products are unknown. In a randomized, repeated-measures crossover study, adults (n = 26) consumed extruded corn snacks made with the addition of 40% pulse flour from either: whole yellow pea, split yellow pea, green lentil, chickpea, or pinto bean. The control snack was 100% corn. Food intake was measured with an ad libitum meal consumed at 120 min. Blood glucose (BG), insulin and appetite were measured regularly before (pre-meal, 0-120 min) and after (post-meal, 140-200 min) the meal. Pinto bean and chickpea snacks led to lower (p<0.05) pre-meal BG incremental area under the curve (iAUC), compared with control, whole yellow pea and green lentil snacks. Pinto bean snack also led to lower (pre-meal BG (p<0.05) and insulin (p<0.05) iAUC compared with control, whole yellow pea, and split yellow pea snacks. There were no differences in food intake or appetite. These findings indicate that effects of replacing corn with pulse flours in extruded snacks on BG, and insulin are dependent on pulse type. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02402504. Registered on 30 March 2015. Novelty bullets: The incorporation of pinto bean and chickpea flour into extruded corn snacks improves postprandial glycemic response. Pulse containing snacks were equally as palatable as the corn snacks. The incorporation of pulses into corn snacks increased the protein and fibre content.

Oat has procured its acclaim as a health promoting food partially due to its positive effect on glucose control. It has been demonstrated that oat β-glucan can interfere with postprandial glucose response. A large majority of this action is attributed to the increase in viscosity due to the β-glucan content in oat foods. While it is known that an increase in viscosity due to higher molecular weight of β-glucan can improve its glycemic effects, it is not known if an increase in viscosity attained by processing variables can further enhance the positive effect of oat on glucose control. In the current study we have examined the effect of kilning, tempering, microwaving, cooking, soaking and flaking on oat β-glucan viscosity. An acute randomized crossover clinical trial was also conducted to test oatmeal products containing low, medium and high β-glucan viscosity for their effect on postprandial glycemic response. Results from the processing experiments demonstrate that kilned samples, when tempered to 25% moisture and microwaved for 2 minutes, can produce much higher final viscosity compared to other samples with similar β-glucan content, molecular weight and solubility. However, results from the clinical trial show that the increase in the viscosity of the oat β-glucan attained through processing in this study did not have any effect on postprandial glucose control.

Summary This study assessed the effect of processing including boiling, roasting and fermenting on bioaccessibility of carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, β‐cryptoxanthin, α‐carotene and β‐carotene) from orange maize. Bioaccessibility of carotenoids was analysed using a three‐stage in vitro digestion. High‐performance liquid chromatography was used to analyse the contents of carotenoid compounds in the processed orange maize products and digesta. On average, boiled maize had the highest retention rate (79.0%) of carotenoids followed by fermented porridge (73.8%), fermented maize (68.4%) and unfermented porridge (59.0%). Roasted maize had the lowest retention rate of 56.1%. Without further processing, carotenoids recovery from raw orange maize ranged from 73.0% to 100.5%. After treatments, carotenoids recovery showed varying levels of increase except for fermented maize. The average recovery of carotenoids in whole digesta of boiled maize, roasted maize, fermented porridge and unfermented porridge was 108.5%, 116.9%, 101.9% and 110.7%, respectively.

Beta (β)-glucan (BG) from cereal grains is associated with lowering post-prandial blood glucose but the precise mechanism is not well-elucidated. The main aim of this study was to understand the mechanism through which BG from barley affects post-prandial glycemic response. Waffles containing 0, 1, 2, and 3 g barley BG and the same amount of available carbohydrate (15 g) were fed to the TIM-1 dynamic gastrointestinal digestion system to study the effect of BG on starch hydrolysis. Intestinal acetone powder and Xenopus laevis oocytes were used to study BG's effect on mammalian intestinal α-glucosidase and glucose transporters. The presence of BG did not significantly affect the in vitro starch digestion profiles of waffles suggesting that BG does not affect α-amylase activity. Intestinal α-glucosidase and glucose transport activities were significantly ( p < 0.0001) inhibited in the presence of barley BG. Interestingly, BG viscosity did not influence α-amylase, α-glucosidase, GLUT2, and SGLT1 activities. This study provides the first evidence for the mechanism by which BG from barley attenuates post-prandial glycemic response is via alteration of α-glucosidase, GLUT2, and SGLT1 activity, but not amylolysis of starch. The decrease in post-prandial blood glucose in the presence of BG is likely a consequence of the interaction between BG and membrane active proteins (brush border enzymes and glucose transporters) as opposed to the commonly held hypothesis that increased viscosity caused by BG inhibits starch digestion.

Background: The oral cavity is associated with local and systemic diseases, although oral samples are not as commonly studied as fecal samples in microbiome research. There is a gap in understanding between the similarities and differences in oral and gut microbiomes and how they may influence each other. Methods: A scoping literature review was conducted comparing oral and gut microbiome communities in healthy humans. Results: Ten manuscripts met inclusion criteria and were examined. The oral microbiome sites demonstrated great variance in differential bacterial abundance and the oral microbiome had higher alpha diversity as compared to the gut microbiome. Studies using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis resulted in overall community differences between the oral and gut microbiomes when beta diversity was analyzed. Shotgun metagenomics sequencing increased taxonomic resolution to strain level (intraspecies) and demonstrated a greater percentage of shared taxonomy and oral bacterial translocation to the gut microbiome community. Discussion: The oral and gut microbiome bacterial communities may be more similar than earlier research has suggested, when species strain is analyzed through shotgun metagenomics sequencing. The association between oral health and systemic diseases has been widely reported but many mechanisms underlying this relationship are unknown. Although future research is needed, the oral microbiome may be a novel interventional target through its downstream effects on the gut microbiome. As nurse scientists are experts in symptom characterization and phenotyping of patients, they are also well posed to lead research on the connection of the oral microbiome to the gut microbiome in health and disease.

The need to produce wheat with low asparagine concentration is of great importance as a measure to mitigate acrylamide concentration in wheat-based products. The association of asparagine concentration in Canadian bread wheat with cultivar, growing location, fertilizer and their interaction were investigated. Wheat cultivars (8) were grown in 2 locations under 4 fertilizer treatments in triplicate (which consisted of two nitrogen rates (90 or 120 lbs/acre) with or without 15 lbs sulphur per acre). The asparagine concentration ranged from 168.9 to 1050 ug/g and was significantly affected by cultivar, location, and their interaction but not fertilizer treatment. Location and cultivar were responsible for 80% and 14% of the variation, respectively. Some cultivars were not affected by location and maintained their low asparagine accumulation trait. Thus, breeding strategies should aim to identify cultivars that are low asparagine accumulating and are stable across different growing environments.

Many patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) consume alcohol chronically and in large amounts that alter intestinal microbiota, damage the gastrointestinal tract, and thereby injure other organs via malabsorption and intestinal inflammation. We hypothesized that alcohol consumption and subsequent abstinence would change the gut microbiome in adults admitted to a treatment program. Stool and oral specimens, diet data, gastrointestinal assessment scores, anxiety, depression measures and drinking amounts were collected longitudinally for up to 4 weeks in 22 newly abstinent inpatients with AUD who were dichotomized as less heavy drinkers (LHD, <10 drinks/d) and very heavy drinkers (VHD, 10 or more drinks/d). Next-generation 16 S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to measure the gut and oral microbiome at up to ten time points/subject and LHD and VHD were compared for change in principal components, Shannon diversity index and specific genera. The first three principal components explained 46.7% of the variance in gut microbiome diversity across time and all study subjects, indicating the change in gut microbiome following abstinence. The first time point was an outlier in three-dimensional principal component space versus all other time points. The gut microbiota in LHD and VHD were significantly dissimilar in change from day 1 to day 5 (p = .03) and from day 1 to week 3 (p = .02). The VHD drinking group displayed greater change from baseline. The Shannon diversity index of the gut microbiome changed significantly during abstinence in five participants. In both groups, the Shannon diversity was lower in the oral microbiome than gut. Ten total genera were shared between oral and stool in the AUD participants. These data were compared with healthy controls from the Human Microbiome Project to investigate the concept of a core microbiome. Rapid changes in gut microbiome following abstinence from alcohol suggest resilience of the gut microbiome in AUD and reflects the benefits of refraining from the highest levels of alcohol and potential benefits of abstinence.

Katherine A. Maki, PhD, RN, NP-BC, is Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Paule V. Joseph, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, is Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Nancy J. Ames, PhD, RN, is Clinical Nurse Scientist, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Gwenyth R. Wallen, PhD, RN, is Chief Nurse Officer and Chief of Nursing Research and Translational Science, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Drs. Maki, Ames, and Wallen are supported by intramural research funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. Dr. Joseph is supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research (1ZIANR000035-01), the NIH Office of Workforce Diversity, the NIH Distinguished Scholars Award, and the Rockefeller University Heilbrunn Nurse Scholar Award. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. Corresponding author: Katherine A. Maki, PhD, RN, NP-BC, National Institutes of Health, Building 10 Rm 2B12B, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 (e-mail: [email protected]).