Identification of off flavours of quick cooking barley and development of methods for shelf-life extension

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The health benefits of barley have led to recent development in various barley-based foods and functional foods. One of the currently available commercial products, the Quick Cooking Barley (QCB), developed by a Progressive Foods Inc. is a thermmaly processed barley-based product designed to be a tasty, healthy and convenient alternative for rice, pasta, and potatoes product. However, like oats and other cereal foods, long term storage of this innovative product also leads to the off flavour development. Preliminary research showed that certain volatile compounds from stored QCB increased over time. However, no further research was done to understand the mechanism of formation of the off flavour compounds, and to provide means to inhit formation of such compounds during storage. The objectives of the present proposal are to: 1) study the volatile profiles and identify the off-flavour marker compounds in the headspace of fresh and stored QCB; 2) to develop new or modify the processing conditions for extended shelf-life of this product. Overall, the approach is directed towards discovery of practical methods for identifying parameter of off flavour and modify the processing to improve the quality of products. The outcome envisioned is competitive method and feasible to extend the self-life and improve product quality to deliver its health benefits to Canadian consumer. Direct beneficiaries would be consumers who might be able to access such health claimed products and improve their dietary habits.