Comparison of nutritional profile of barley flour and refined wheat flour

The present study was conducted to investigate the nutritional composition of barley flour and refined wheat flour. Both the flours were analyzed for their proximate composition, mineral content (calcium, iron and phosphorus) and other nutritional parameters such as dietary fibre, total starch, resistant starch, gluten content, in-vitro protein digestibility and total antioxidant activity. Results of proximate composition revealed that crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and total ash content of barley flour were significantly higher than refined wheat flour, whereas, barley flour had significantly lower moisture and carbohydrate content as compared to refined wheat flour. Minerals viz., calcium, iron and phosphorus were found to be significantly higher in barley flour as compared to refined wheat flour. Total starch content, gluten content and in-vitro protein digestibility of barley flour was significantly lower than refined wheat flour. However, in terms of nutritional parameters like dietary fibre, resistant starch and total antioxidant activity, barley flour had significantly higher values than refined wheat flour. Overall, barley flour had higher nutritive value as compared to refined wheat flour.