Profiling the Volatile and Non-Volatile Compounds along with the Antioxidant Properties of Malted Barley

In this work, the stability of antioxidant compounds in malting barley seeds before and after the production of the final products is reported. In this reflection, the findings revealed that the process of fermentation had a significant impact on antioxidant activity. In vitro, antioxidant capacities were evaluated using DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The results obtained from the spectrophotometric analysis showed that the lowest inhibition value was observed in the samples that were obtained by the classical fermentation process (ABC) and the samples of non-alcoholic beer obtained by the thermal process (NABT), with free radical inhibition capacity values of 8.50% and 5.50%, respectively. The samples of hopped wort (HW) and malted barley seeds extract (BSE) showed very high antioxidant activity with free radical inhibition capacity of 14% and 12.60%, respectively. The obtained extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, both combined with mass spectrometry detection (GC–MS, HPLC–MS). GC–MS analysis of the SPME extraction showed the presence of 29 compounds with isopentyl alcohol in major concentration (18.19%) in the alcoholic beer; on the other hand, the HPLC–DAD–ESI/MS analysis of the ethyl acetate extract showed the presence of 13 phenolic compounds. Interestingly, the degradation of 3-Hydroxyphloretin 2′-O-glucoside in the final products of the non-alcoholic beers was found. Finally, the FTIR analysis was also employed in order to detect the type of efficient groups present in the extracts.