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Sprouted Grain Bread: Anything To It?
Healthy Living | Last Active: Oct 5, 2021 | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
This discussion is fascinating. I understand the devastation to crop wheat caused by premature sprouting (and can remember fields being mowed for feed after an early freeze caused sprouting on the plant.)
While sprouted wheat is useless for flour, there is evidence that intentionally sprouted grains do release nutrients. I found the articles you referred to and read them, which made me more determined to find my "lost" analysis. Of all the people on Connect, maybe a handful will wade through this full chemical analysis, but here you are: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/2/421/htm
For everyone else:
"Conclusions and Future Perspectives
Germination leads to substantial changes in biochemical composition of whole grains: starch reserves are mobilized by the action of α-amylase, that corrodes the surface of the granule and forms pinholes; the nitrogen containing fractions shift towards oligopeptides and free amino acids, and amino acids composition changes as well; triacylglycerols start to be hydrolyzed and saturated/unsaturated fatty acids ratio rises up; the amount of anti-nutritional factors (e.g., phytate, trypsin inhibitor, tannin) decreases significantly, and bioactive compounds such as phenolics, phyrosterols, folates and GABA increase. Hence, in sprouted grains almost all nutrients are fully available and various antioxidants occur at higher concentrations, thus providing the base to define sprouts as “functional foods”....
Further research is needed to evaluate: (i) the optimization of germination process (i.e., growth stage, germination conditions, elicitors) as a function of genotype, aimed at modulating/enhancing phytochemical contents; (ii) the pre- and post-harvest technologies to reduce microbiological risks without affecting sprout nutraceutical profiles; (iii) the actual translatability of sprout bioactive compounds to biological benefits in lifestyle-related diseases, through in vivo essays. These objectives should be achieved also taking into account the productive perspective, pursuing the goals of an innovative agri-food technology beyond home-made production."
Bottom line as far as breads made from sprouts - "intentional sprouts" offer a different nutrition than flour made from the same grains. The key for the consumer, make sure that what you are buying lists specific sprouted grains (not sprouted grain flour or whole wheat flour) as at least the first two ingredients on the label.
Sue
Replies to "This discussion is fascinating. I understand the devastation to crop wheat caused by premature sprouting (and..."
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I read the McGill link more thoroughly (but will re-re-read it), and they push all things organic hard enough to make my antennae go up. But there are lots of citations, so I am not dismissing it.
α-amylase is at the heart of FN that I discussed; FN works by measuring it. I have yet to read that "nutrients" journal link, but I will do so. My underlying question remains the same: How material is all of this? We know that a low FN has very real and quite negative implications for the quality of flour and the products made from it. The lower the number, the more sprouting. This is why I suspect (but cannot know) that the sprouted bread guys are using lightly sprouted grain. I really doubt that intent ("intentionally sprouted") is relevant, but rather that the degree of sprouting as measured by FN is what matters. Without that number, I'm not sure that labelling is useful in that case. That said, next time at the store, I will at least read the label on the sprouted grain bread.
There is a whole lot of hype in the Great American Marketing Machine. It's so ubiquitous that we are trained to just accept it. I am reminded of my weight-loss efforts (which were successful.) Whether it's Atkins or a diet based on Harris & Benedict's work, one thing that happens is that you read labels like crazy. I recall looking at the labels on "multigrain" crackers. It's a good hype example, "multigrain" being perceived as healthy. Quite the eye-opener; in fact, the flour in "multi-grain" crackers is derived almost entirely from enriched white wheat flour, not whole wheat. I quickly migrated to Wasa crackers, which taste like cardboard but are definitely the real thing and work great in a weight-loss program. If you're looking for honest to God real whole grain, I say look for Wasa crackers and get used to their taste.