A compendium of wheat germ: Separation, stabilization and food applications

Background Wheat germ is a precious by-product deriving from the milling industry, as it is a natural concentrated source of essential amino and fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, tocopherols, and phytosterols. However, the presence of high enzymatic activities together with a high content of unsaturated oil, induce a fast decrease in the nutritional value of wheat germ during storage and, consequently, strongly limit product's shelf-life. Scope and approach In recent decades, flour blends from raw or/and processed wheat germ received great interest from nutritional and technological perspectives. Nevertheless, the quality of the end-product strongly depended on the supplementation level, as well as the type and the severity of separation and stabilization techniques that wheat germ went through. Hence, in this review, the newest advances in wheat germ pre-handling approaches and food applications are discussed to provide relevant and updated information about its worthiness to be a part of the human diet. Key findings and conclusions To fully valorize and preserve the nutritious potential of wheat germ, effective pre-treatments of separation and stabilization are needed to guarantee its stability and suitability to meet food quality and safety standards. Such an underutilized ingredient might be a valuable fortifying component for a spectrum of foodstuffs.