Biochemical characterization of oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes with high nutritional potential

Abstract Forty three oat genotypes including six cultivars and thirty seven advance breeding lines were evaluated for composition of carbohydrates, total soluble proteins, minerals, antinutritional factors such as phytic acid, saponin and tannin and fiber (β-glucan, cellulose and lignin) content. The average contents of total soluble sugars, starch and total protein were 5.3, 494.3 and 182.9 mg/g respectively. The average content of zinc (8.3 mg/100 g) was higher than iron (3.5 mg/100 g) in oats. The oat genotypes were then sorted out into high, medium and low categories following the equal distribution method. Ten genotypes (OL-10, OL-125, OL-1769, OL-1835, OL-1841, OL-1843, OL-1847, OL-1865, OL-1873, OL-1876) possessed low antinutritional factors in terms of phytic acid, saponin and tannin contents. Among them, OL-1843 and OL-1865 were considered nutritionally best as they lied in higher/medium range of starch, zinc, total soluble protein, β-glucan and iron. They were followed by OL-1873, which possessed high contents of total soluble sugars, starch and zinc together with the medium amounts of total fructose and iron. Therefore, all these genotypes may be considered good for human consumption and for use in breeding programs.