Enhancing antioxidant activity and antiproliferation of wheat bran through steam flash explosion.

The effect of steam flash explosion (SFE), a green processing technology, on the phenolic composition, antioxidant activity and antiproliferation to HepG2 of wheat bran was investigated. Moderate SFE treatment significantly enhanced the total soluble phenolic content of wheat bran. After SFE pretreatment, the free and conjugated ferulic acid content in the wheat bran were significantly increased. Antioxidant activities of SFE treated wheat bran were higher than those untreated wheat bran. The cellular antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of SFE treated wheat bran were also significantly ameliorated. It was suggested that SFE pretreatment could be applied to release the bound phenolic compounds and enhance the antioxidant activities and antiproliferative activities of wheat bran.