Oats (Avena satica L.) are an important source of dietary fiber mainly composed of β-glucans, which is reported to be effective in lowering of cholesterol and decreasing the risk of heart attack. Subcritical water extraction (SWE) is a new and promising method for the extraction of β-glucan due to its polarity-selectivity, efficiency of recovery, time-efficiency, and lower cost. In this study, efficiencies of the SWE were investigated for the extraction of β-glucan from oat flour. The conditions for maximizing the extraction efficiency were determined by varying temperature (110-190°C), pH of solvent (pH 3.0-10.6), static time (5-20 min) and particle size of oat flour. The amount of β-glucan was determined with a ‘Mixed-linkage β-glucan’ assay kit (Megazyme International Ltd.), according to McCleary and Codd (1991). The overall results showed that the concentration of β-glucan was highest under the following conditions: extraction temperature of 200°C, pH value of 4.0, static time of 10 min, and particle size of 425-850 μm. The extraction yield under the optimum condition was 6.98±1.17 g/100 g oat flour, which was over two-fold higher than that obtained using hot water extraction method (60°C, 3 h). Therefore, SWE is a feasible alternative for extracting soluble dietary fiber (β-glucan) from oat flour.

This study investigated the effects of temperature, solvent concentration, and pH on the β-glucan extraction. Oat bran β-glucan was extracted with different extraction conditions, using various combinations of experiment factors, such as temperature (40, 45, 50, 55, and 60℃), ethanol concentration (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%), and pH (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). Under the various extraction conditions, β-glucan extraction rate and overall mass transfer coefficient of oat bran β-glucan, and viscosity of oat bran extracts were investigated. As increasing the extraction time, the extraction rate of β-glucan increased. The overall mass transfer coefficient of β-glucan ranged from 3.36×10^-6 to 8.55×10^-6 ㎝/min, indicating the lowest at the extraction condition of 45℃, 15% and pH 8, and the highest at 50℃, 0% and pH 7. It was significantly greater with increasing extraction temperature and decreasing ethanol concentrations of extraction solvent, except for solvent pH. There were positive correlations among the overall mass transfer coefficient, the extraction rate of β-glucan, and the viscosity of extract.

본 연구에서는 미강과 배아로부터의 β-glucan 추출 공정 최적화를 위해 반응표면 분석법으로 모니터링하였다. 중심합성계획법에 따라 추출 온도(X1), 추출 시간(X2), 추출 온도(X3)를 요인변수(Xn)로 하고 미강 추출물의 전자공여능(Y1), 배아 추출물의 전자공여능(Y2), 미강 추출물의 total phenolics(Y3), 배아 추출물의 total phenolics(Y4), 미강 추출물의 β-glucan 함량(Y5), 배아 추출물의 β-glucan 함량(Y6)을 종속변수로 하여 시행하였다. 실험 결과 미강 추출물의 전자공여능도는 추출 온도에 영향을 받음을 알 수 있었다. 안장점에서 추출 조건은 추출 온도는 60.41oC, 추출 시간은 2.75 min, 에탄올 농도 92.60%로 예측되었으며 이 때 84.02%로 비교적 높은 항산화 활성을 보여주었다. 배아 추출물의 전자공여능도의 안장점에서 추출 조건은 추출 온도 54.40oC, 추출 시간 2.23 min, 에탄올 농도 87.52%였다. 미강 추출물의 total phenolics는 추출 온도와 에탄올 농도에 영향을 크게 받은 것으로 나타났고 안장점에서 추출 조건은 추출 온도 40.26oC, 추출 시간 6.69 min, 에탄올 농도 98.56%로 예측되었고 배아 추출물의 total phenolics는 최소점에서 추출 온도 53.67oC, 추출 시간 9.19 min, 에탄올 농도 95.73%에서 최대값을 나타내었다. 미강 추출물의 β-glucan 함량은 안장점일 때 추출 조건이 추출 온도 64.69oC, 추출 시간 7.70 min, 에탄올 농도 96.23%로 나타났다. 배아 추출물의 β-glucan 함량은 추출 시간에 영향을 크게 받았으며 최소점에서 추출 온도 50.03oC, 추출 시간 2.10 min, 에탄올 농도 87.82%에서 미강 추출물에서보다 더 높은 최대값을 나타내었다.