Production of Powerful Antioxidant Supplements via Solid-State Fermentation of Wheat (Triticum aestivum Linn.) by Cordyceps militaris
Zuofa Zhang1, Guoying Lv1, Huijuan Pan1, Leifa Fan1*, Carlos Ricardo Soccol2 and Ashok Pandey3
1Institute of Horticulture, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Science, Hangzhou, ZJ 310021, PR China
2Biotechnological Process Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, PR 81531-970, Brazil
3Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSIR, 695 019 Trivandrum, India
Article history:
Received December 2, 2010
Accepted November 17, 2011
Key words:
solid-state fermentation, Cordyceps militaris, antioxidant supplements, free phenolic acids
Summary:
The present study has been conducted to evaluate the antioxidant properties of fermented wheat (Triticum aestivum Linn.) extracted using acidified water, 70 % acetone and 70 % ethanol as compared to uninoculated control. Antioxidant activity, measured by the scavenging ability against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals and hydroxyl radicals, reducing power and ferrous ion chelating ability was more effective in fermented than unfermented wheat. Furthermore, the extraction yield, total phenolic, total flavonoid and free phenolic acid content were significantly enhanced in fermented wheat. Among the various extracts examined, the acetone extract of the fermented wheat had the highest content of antioxidant compounds (66.37 mg/g as gallic acid equivalent per mass of the extract for polyphenols and 32.27 mg/g as rutin equivalent per mass of flavonoid extract) and antioxidant activity with the lowest EC50 values. Thus, fermentation with Cordyceps militaris can be used as a tool to develop wheat as a health food or ingredient with multi-functional properties which can be used in the food industry as a natural antioxidant.
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