Review
BibTex RIS Cite

Bioactive components of colored grain wheat and its use in food products

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 26 - 33
https://doi.org/10.55147/efse.1663061

Abstract

This study examines the quality characteristics of colored grain wheats and their potential uses in food products. Colored wheat grains contain higher levels of anthocyanins, carotenoids, dietary fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals compared to traditional wheat varieties. These compounds make them a functional food source with high antioxidant capacity. The rich dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals in colored wheat flour support digestive health and offer the potential to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Research shows that colored wheat flour enhances the nutritional value of food products and can act as a natural colorant alternative to artificial colorants. Studies on the processing of wheat and the analysis of its bioactive compounds suggest that colored grain wheats may have a wide range of uses. In conclusion, the utilization of colored grain wheat varieties in functional food production represents an important opportunity to provide sustainable and nutritious food options.

References

  • Arunima, S. H., Kumar, G. S., Krishnan, R., & Mohammed, T. (2021). Colored grains: chemistry, health benefits and processing. The Pharma Innovation International Journal, 10(5), 317-332. doi:10.22271/tpi.2021.v10.i5e.6233
  • Battino, M., Giampieri, F., Cianciosi, D., Ansary, J., Chen, X., Zhang, D., ... & Forbes-Hernández, T. (2021). The roles of strawberry and honey phytochemicals on human health: A possible clue on the molecular mechanisms involved in the prevention of oxidative stress and inflammation. Phytomedicine, 86, 153170. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2020.153170
  • Carolina Gold Rice Foundation. (2019a, May 18). On the history of Southern winter wheats: White May, Purple Straw, and Red May wheats. Retrieved July 9, 2025, from https://www.thecarolinagoldricefoundation.org/news/2019/5/18/on-the-history-of-southern-winter-wheats-white-may-purple-straw-and-red-may-wheats
  • Carolina Gold Rice Foundation. (2019b, September 21). The grains used in historic Southern distilling. Retrieved July 9, 2025, from https://www.thecarolinagoldricefoundation.org/news/2019/9/21/the-grains-used-in-historic-southern-distiilling
  • Dangi, P., Chaudhary, N., Paul, A., Sharma, A., Dutta, I., & Razdan, R. (2023). Pigmented wheat: Nutrition Scenario and Health Benefits.
  • Dhua, S., Kumar, K., Kumar, Y., Singh, L., & Sharanagat, V. S. (2021). Composition, characteristics and health promising prospects of black wheat: A review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 112, 780-794. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2021.04.037
  • Eliášová, M., Kotíková, Z., Lachman, J., Orsák, M., & Martinek, P. (2020). Influence of baking on anthocyanin content in coloured-grain wheat bread. Plant, Soil and Environment, 66(8), 381-386. doi:10.17221/210/2020-PSE
  • Erenstein, O., Jaleta, M., Mottaleb, K. A., Sonder, K., Donovan, J., & Braun, H. J. (2022). Global trends in wheat production, consumption and trade. In Wheat improvement: food security in a changing climate (pp. 47-66). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  • Ficco, D. B., De Simone, V., Colecchia, S. A., Pecorella, I., Platani, C., Nigro, F., ... & De Vita, P. (2014). Genetic variability in anthocyanin composition and nutritional properties of blue, purple, and red bread (Triticum aestivum L.) and durum (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. turgidum convar. durum) wheats. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 62(34), 8686-8695. doi:10.1021/jf5003683
  • Gamel, T. H., Saeed, S. M. G., Ali, R., & Abdel-Aal, E. S. M. (2023). Purple wheat: food development, anthocyanin stability, and potential health benefits. Foods, 12(7), 1358. doi:10.3390/foods12071358
  • Garg, M., Chawla, M., Chunduri, V., Kumar, R., Sharma, S., Sharma, N. K., ... & Singh, S. P. (2016). Transfer of grain colors to elite wheat cultivars and their characterization. Journal of Cereal Science, 71, 138-144. doi:10.1016/j.jcs.2016.08.004
  • Garg, M., Kaur, S., Sharma, A., Kumari, A., Tiwari, V., Sharma, S., ... & Krishania, M. (2022). Rising demand for healthy foods-anthocyanin biofortified colored wheat is a new research trend. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, 878221. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.878221
  • Garg, M., Sharma, N., Sharma, S., Kapoor, P., Kumar, A., Chunduri, V., & Arora, P. (2016). Colored wheat: A new research direction to improve its health benefits. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 51(4), 948-955.
  • Gaskins, A. J., Mumford, S. L., Rovner, A. J., Zhang, C., Chen, L., Wactawski-Wende, J., ... & BioCycle Study Group. (2010). Whole grains are associated with serum concentrations of high sensitivity C-reactive protein among premenopausal women. The Journal of Nutrition, 140(9), 1669-1676. doi:10.3945/jn.110.124164
  • Giordano, D., Locatelli, M., Travaglia, F., Bordiga, M., Reyneri, A., Coïsson, J. D., & Blandino, M. (2017). Bioactive compound and antioxidant activity distribution in roller-milled and pearled fractions of conventional and pigmented wheat varieties. Food Chemistry, 233, 483-491. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.04.065
  • Gupta, R., Meghwal, M., & Prabhakar, P. K. (2021). Bioactive compounds of pigmented wheat (Triticum aestivum): Potential benefits in human health. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 110, 240-252. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.003
  • Henkel, R. (2024). Antioxidant Paradox. In Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress: Clinical Aspects of Oxidative Stress (pp. 349-360). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
  • Hidalgo, A., & Brandolini, A. (2014). Nutritional properties of einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 94(4), 601-612. doi:10.1002/jsfa.6382
  • Hong, M. J., Ko, C. S., & Kim, D. Y. (2024). Genome-wide association study to identify marker–trait associations for seed color in colored wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(7), 3600. doi:10.3390/ijms25073600
  • Jiang, Y., Qi, Z., Li, J., Gao, J., Xie, Y., Henry, C. J., & Zhou, W. (2024). Role of superfine grinding in purple-whole-wheat flour. Part Ⅰ: Impacts of size reduction on anthocyanin profile, physicochemical and antioxidant properties. LWT-Food Science and Technology, 197, 115940. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2024.115940
  • Köksel, H., Cetiner, B., Shamanin, V. P., Tekin-Cakmak, Z. H., Pototskaya, I. V., Kahraman, K., ... & Morgounov, A. I. (2023). Quality, nutritional properties, and glycemic index of colored whole wheat breads. Foods, 12(18), 3376. doi:10.3390/foods12183376
  • Lairon, D., Arnault, N., Bertrais, S., Planells, R., Clero, E., Hercberg, S., & Boutron-Ruault, M. C. (2005). Dietary fiber intake and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in French adults. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(6), 1185-1194.
  • Li, W., & Beta, T. (2011). Flour and bread from black-, purple-, and blue-colored wheats. In Flour and breads and their fortification in health and disease prevention (pp. 59-67). Academic Press.
  • Liu, Q., Qiu, Y., & Beta, T. (2010). Comparison of antioxidant activities of different colored wheat grains and analysis of phenolic compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(16), 9235-9241. doi:10.1021/jf101700s
  • Morgounov, A., Karaduman, Y., Akin, B., Aydogan, S., Baenziger, P. S., Bhatta, M., ... & Khlestkina, E. (2020). Yield and quality in purple-grained wheat isogenic lines. Agronomy, 10(1), 86. doi:10.3390/agronomy10010086
  • Newberry, M., Berbezy, P., Belobrajdic, D., Chapron, S., Tabouillot, P., Regina, A., & Bird, A. (2018). High-amylose wheat foods: A new opportunity to meet dietary fiber targets for health. Cereal Foods World, 63(5), 188-193. doi:10.1094/ CFW-63-5-0188
  • Razgonova, M. P., Zakharenko, A. M., Gordeeva, E. I., Shoeva, O. Y., Antonova, E. V., Pikula, K. S., ... & Golokhvast, K. S. (2021). Phytochemical analysis of phenolics, sterols, and terpenes in colored wheat grains by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Molecules, 26(18), 5580. doi:10.3390/molecules26185580
  • Padhy, A. K., Kaur, P., Singh, S., Kashyap, L., & Sharma, A. (2024). Colored wheat and derived products: key to global nutritional security. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 64(7), 1894-1910. doi:10.1080/10408398.2022.2119366
  • Saini, P., Kumar, N., Kumar, S., Mwaurah, P. W., Panghal, A., Attkan, A. K., ... & Singh, V. (2021). Bioactive compounds, nutritional benefits and food applications of colored wheat: A comprehensive review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 61(19), 3197-3210. doi:10.1080/10408398.2020.1793727
  • Salamini, F., Özkan, H., Brandolini, A., Schäfer-Pregl, R., & Martin, W. (2002). Genetics and geography of wild cereal domestication in the near east. Nature Reviews Genetics, 3(6), 429-441.
  • Shamanin, V. P., Tekin-Cakmak, Z. H., Gordeeva, E. I., Karasu, S., Pototskaya, I., Chursin, A. S., ... & Koksel, H. (2022). Antioxidant capacity and profiles of phenolic acids in various genotypes of purple wheat. Foods, 11(16), 2515. doi:10.3390/foods11162515
  • Sharma, S., Chunduri, V., Kumar, A., Kumar, R., Khare, P., Kondepudi, K. K., ... & Garg, M. (2018). Anthocyanin bio-fortified colored wheat: Nutritional and functional characterization. PloS one, 13(4), e0194367. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194367
  • Shewry, P. R., & Hey, S. J. (2015). The contribution of wheat to human diet and health. Food and Energy Security, 4(3), 178-202. doi:10.1002/fes3.64
  • Szőke-Trenyik, E., Mihalkó, J., Sipos, P., & Szabó, B. P. (2023). Development of high-fibre, ready-to-bake flour mixtures from purple wheat. Processes, 11(2), 389. doi:10.3390/pr11020389
  • Wen, J., Li, Z., Yao, J., Wang, S., Liu, Y., & Liu, Y. (2024). The combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers improved the quality of colored wheat by physicochemical properties and rheological characteristics of starch. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 282, 137175. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137175
  • World Health Organization. (2020). Healthy diet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet
  • Valieva, A. I., Akulov, A. N., & Rumyantseva, N. I. (2024). Phenolic compounds in purple whole-wheat flour and bread: Comparative analysis. Foods and Raw Materials, 12(2), 334-347. doi:10.21603/2308-4057-2024-2-611
  • Veronese, N., Solmi, M., Caruso, M. G., Giannelli, G., Osella, A. R., Evangelou, E., ... & Tzoulaki, I. (2018). Dietary fiber and health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 107(3), 436-444. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqx082
  • Zhai, S., Xia, X., & He, Z. (2016). Carotenoids in staple cereals: metabolism, regulation, and genetic manipulation. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7, 1197. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.01197
There are 39 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Food Engineering
Journal Section Review
Authors

Benay Çolak 0000-0003-2116-5966

Yaşar Karaduman 0000-0003-1306-3572

Publication Date November 17, 2025
Submission Date March 24, 2025
Acceptance Date September 16, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 6 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Çolak, B., & Karaduman, Y. (n.d.). Bioactive components of colored grain wheat and its use in food products. European Food Science and Engineering, 6(2), 26-33. https://doi.org/10.55147/efse.1663061