Comprehensive nutritional analysis of 95 oat cultivars reveals large variability in nutritional profile: protein, starch, fat, β-glucan and fibre

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Date
2026-03-17
Authors
Lampoglou, Nefeli
Rahman, Atikur
Mullins, Ewen
Sahin, Aylin W.
McCabe, Cathal
Arendt, Elke
Brodkorb, André
Freitas, Daniela
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Nature Publishing Group
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10.1038/s41538-026-00800-z
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Abstract
Nutritional composition determines whether oats can deliver established health benefits like cholesterol reduction, which requires specific β-glucan thresholds unachievable by consuming a standard serving of typical commercial cultivars. Current yield-focused breeding overlooks the substantial nutritional diversity within the species, limiting consumer access to nutritional profiles optimised for different nutritional targets and leaving the potential for enhanced health outcomes untapped. This study characterised the nutritional composition of 95 Irish-grown oat cultivars and compared field (2024) versus glasshouse (2023) grown samples from 21 cultivars. Key components showed wide variation, with fat displaying the largest range and starch the most consistency, with concentrations ranging as follows: protein 11.5–22.9%, starch 47.2–65.3%, fat 2.4–10.0%, ash 1.4–2.9%, β-glucan 2.8–6.6%, and calculated fibre-rich fraction 8.5–26.9% (dry matter basis). Glasshouse-grown samples had significantly higher protein, fibre-rich fraction, and ash than field-grown counterparts (p < 0.001). These findings reveal untapped potential for breeding oats with targeted nutritional profiles to support dietary recommendations and food industry applications. (Figure presented.)
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Crop science , Yield-focused breeding , [FoodNutritionalSciences]
Citation
Lampoglou, N, Rahman, A, Mullins, E, Sahin, A W, McCabe, C, Arendt, E, Brodkorb, A & Freitas, D 2026, 'Comprehensive nutritional analysis of 95 oat cultivars reveals large variability in nutritional profile: protein, starch, fat, β-glucan and fibre', npj Science of Food, vol. 10, no. 1, 145, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00800-z
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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/19212
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© 2026, the Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.