Nutritional, physicochemical and antioxidant properties of sprouted and fermented beverages made from Phalaris canariensis seed

The development of fermented beverages from seeds is important because the fermentation process decreases the concentration of anti-nutritional compounds, in addition, compounds that provide odour, flavour, and that have beneficial properties for the consumer are generated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional characteristics, physicochemical properties, antioxidants, volatile compounds, fatty acids and bioactive compounds of un-sprouted canary seed, sprouted seed and a fermented beverage prepared from the germinated seed. The analysis of untargeted bioactive compounds by Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS-QTOF) allowed the identification of the main metabolic pathways that occur during these processes. The sprouts contained linolenic acid, and the beverage contained fatty acids. L-phenylalanine was the polyphenol present at the highest concentration in the seed, sprout and beverage. Seven volatile compounds were identified, of which 2-methyl butanal and ethanol were found in the highest concentration in the sprouted and fermented seeds, respectively. The beverage exhibited the highest concentration of polyphenols and antioxidant activity assessed by the DPPH, FRAP and ABTS tests. We, therefore, conclude that the beverage could confer beneficial health effects, and the results provide information for the development of new functional canary seed products.