Kock, L. B., Brummer, Y., Exley, T., Rhymer, C., . . . Bordenave, N. (2018). In vitro assessment of oat β-glucans nutritional properties: An inter-laboratory methodology evaluation. Carbohydrate Polymers, 200, 271-277. doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.07.082

Abstract

The purpose of this inter-laboratory study was to test the repeatability and reproducibility of an in vitro method aimed at analyzing the physicochemical properties under physiological conditions of β-glucans from foods. After evaluating β-glucans molar mass and quantification methods using five β-glucan controls, four laboratories ran six oat-based products through in vitro digestion, measured β-glucans solubility and viscosity and molar mass of solubilized β-glucans. The determination of the molar mass of β-glucan controls, their viscosity in solution and β-glucans content in food samples exhibited relative standard reproducibility of 20.9–40.9%, 10.2–40.9% and 2.3–14.8%, respectively. After in vitro digestion, relative standard reproducibility ranged 12.1–60.0%, 12.2–64.3% and 9.7–36.3% for molar mass of extracted β-glucans, their viscosity and their solubility, respectively. Although the characterization methods were satisfactory within the limits of current technology, the in vitro extraction contributed significantly to the uncertainty of final characterization.