Approved method to control the quality of cereal β-glucans. 

This internationally method was approved as an offical standard method AACCI 32-24.01.

Swedish Oat Fiber has recently participated in the successful development of a new AACC International proposed method for the measurement of β-glucan in cereal products using RVA. The objective of this method is to determine the viscosity of β-glucan that is soluble under simulated digestion conditions without requirements for pre-digestion or extraction of cereal products.

This viscosity is obtained by mixing an aqueous suspension of ground samples with digestive enzymes in a disposable canister in the RVA. The method can be applied by industrial and research laboratories as a screening tool to identify products that may have positive physiological effect. It can also be used as a quality assurance method to ensure consistency of β-glucan characteristics in production.

Ten laboratories participated in the collaborative study to evaluate the method performance using eight cereal products in addition to two β-glucan standards and two blind samples. The method showed an acceptable precision. A calibrated RVA along with proper mixing of sample with buffer and digestive enzymes are key to obtaining consistent results. In general, the results of the mini and full collaborative studies indicate the potential of this method to become an AACCI Approved Method.

The publication is available as:

Gamel, T. Abdel-Aal, E.M. Ames, N.P. Henderson, F. Prothon, F. Kongraksawech, T. Tosh, S.M. (2015) AACCI Approved Methods Technical Committee Report: A New AACCI Approved Method (32-24.01) for Measuring Viscosity of Beta-Glucan in Cereal Products Using the Rapid Visco Analyzer. Cereal Foods World.

AAACI Approved Methods Technical Committee Report