Abstract

Germination has been regarded as a promising natural process to improve the antioxidant properties of mustard. However, there is one question to be solved in this area: does germination improve mustard phenolics' bio-accessibility? The aim of this study was to answer this question by using INFOGEST protocol to simulate in vitro digestion. Resveratrol, formononetin and cryptochlorogenic acid were identified for the first time as evaluated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In general, digestion positively impacted the antioxidant potential of soluble phenolics from non-germinated and germinated grains, which were probably released from cell wall matrix by digestive enzymes. Although digestion seemed to nullify the antioxidant improvement caused by germination, phenolic quantities were distinctive. The main difference was found for sinapic acid, as its con-centration reached a value 1.75-fold higher in germinated digested mustard compared to non-germinated. The results obtained suggested that germination improved the phenolic bioaccessibility of mustard grains, which encourages its use and investigations.