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Abstract

The importance of flaxseeds in the food sector has been highly appreciated due to the presence of phytochemicals and antioxidants. The aim of the present study was to focus on the effect of different solvents used for the extraction of bioactive phytochemicals from raw, fermented, and germinated deoiled flaxseed flours and also evaluated their antioxidant activities. The phenolic content and flavonoid content of 80% ethanolic extract of germinated deoiled flaxseed flour were greater than the raw and fermented deoiled flaxseed flour. This study also focused on the identification of polyphenol compounds present in flaxseed flour extract which varies due to fermentation and germination processes and showed that germinated deoiled flaxseed flour extracts contained the highest number of polyphenol compounds. The germinated flaxseed flour extract was found to be exhibited at the highest zone of inhibition against S. aureus, B. substilis and E. coli. In our results, it was found that germinated deoiled flaxseed flour extract has higher antiarthritic activities. The study established that both the fermentation and germination processes help in the improvement of the phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activities. This information can be adopted for the fortification of food in the food sector.INTRODUCTION: Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) belongs to the family Linaceae and has recently gained popularity as a potential food additive due to its nutritional value 1 . Flaxseed is a source of phenolic compounds and flavonoids which are excellent natural antioxidants 2 . Germination of seed is a technological application widely used for its ability to improve the nutritional value of seed by causing desirable changes in nutrients, textures and secondary metabolite concentrations, which are considered beneficial as antioxidants 3,4 .