Antioxidant Activity of Oat Malt Extracts in Accelerated Corn Oil Oxidation

Abstract Oat cultivar AC Vermont was malted to concentrate antioxidants, milled to fractionate only the endosperm portion and extracted with methanol to isolate the crude antioxidants. The oat malt antioxidant fraction was assessed as a natural antioxidant based upon enhancing the stability of corn oil against oxidation and compared to the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The induction time (time required for the formation of 10 meq hydroperoxide per kilogram corn oil thermally oxidized) was used to measure antioxidant activity of oat antioxidant or BHT. The protection factor achieved by crude oat malt antioxidant extract concentrate at 0.26% (2,600 μg/g) was comparable to BHT (75 μg/g). The antioxidant activity of the oat and barley malt extract concentrates was not significantly different. However, the extract concentrate of oat malt had 44% less color compared to that of barley malt at equal concentrations showing its potential as a natural food antioxidant.