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Analyses of Metabolites in Microwave-treated Maize Flours

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Abstract

The microwave process raises considerable interest due to its advantages in the agriculture and food industries. This process has an impact on the chemical components of food. The effect of microwave treatment on the composition of maize flour is not well established. This study aims to determine the primary metabolite (amino acids, sugars, organic acids, etc.) and fatty acid profiles before and after microwave treatment (600 W, 2 min) of maize flour samples using gas chromatography (GC) techniques. Thirty-five different metabolites were identified in all maize flour samples by GC-MS through standard mass spectral libraries. Moreover, ten different fatty acids detected by GC-FID in the samples were confirmed by comparing them with the retention times of the authentic standards. Based on the statistical analyses, it was found that microwave treatment did not result in any significant effect on the general primary metabolite profile and fatty acid composition of the maize flour samples. Both the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated that the data obtained from all samples had good repeatability. The findings from the metabolite analyses provide valuable insights into establishing a background for monitoring and controlling the chemical composition of maize flour when subjected to microwave processing.

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Data Availability

The data generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study is carried out within the framework of a doctoral thesis conducted by Hacettepe University, Graduate School of Science and Engineering. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses of this study were performed at Bilkent University, Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology (UNAM), Ankara, Turkey. The authors thank Prof. Dr. Ümran Uygun for carefully reading the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by Hacettepe University, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (Project Number: FHD-2021-19443).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Department of Food Engineering, Hacettepe University, Beytepe Campus, Ankara, 06800, Turkey

    Begüm Zeynep Hançerlioğulları & Remziye Yılmaz

  2. Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Gosling Building, Edmund Halley Road, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4DQ, UK

    Umut Toprak

  3. Department of Food Engineering, FoodOmics Laboratory, Hacettepe University, Beytepe Campus, Ankara, 06800, Turkey

    Begüm Zeynep Hançerlioğulları & Remziye Yılmaz

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  1. Begüm Zeynep Hançerlioğulları
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and data analysis were performed by Begüm Zeynep Hançerlioğulları under the supervision of Umut Toprak and Remziye Yılmaz. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Begüm Zeynep Hançerlioğulları, Umut Toprak, and Remziye Yılmaz, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Remziye Yılmaz.

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Hançerlioğulları, B.Z., Toprak, U. & Yılmaz, R. Analyses of Metabolites in Microwave-treated Maize Flours. Food Bioprocess Technol 17, 686–696 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-023-03164-4

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