Eur Food Res Technol (2006) 223: 495–502 DOI 10.1007/s00217-005-0229-1 ORIGINAL PAPER Rebeca Fernandez-Orozco · Mariusz K. Piskula · Henryk Zielinski · Halina Kozlowska · Juana Frias · Concepci´ on Vidal-Valverde Germination as a process to improve the antioxidant capacity of Lupinus angustifolius L. var. Zapaton Received: 19 September 2005 / Revised: 29 November 2005 / Accepted: 11 December 2005 / Published online: 18 January 2006 C  Springer-Verlag 2005 Abstract Antioxidant capacity, measured by glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase-like activity (SOD-like activity), peroxyl radical-trapping capacity (PRTC), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in unilamellar liposomes of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC) has been evaluated in raw and germinated lupin seeds (Lupinus angustifolius L. var. Zap- aton) for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 days. The content of antioxidant vitamins E and C has been also studied. The tripeptide GSH kept invariable for the first 5 days of germination and suffered a decrease of 20 and 78% after 6 and 9 days, respectively. During lupin germination, SOD-like activity increased slightly whilst PRTC doubled the amount after 9 days. TEAC values changed slightly up to 5 days of germination but after 6 and 9 days a significant increase (25 and 28%, respectively) was found. The oxidation of PC was inhibited by germinated lupin extracts and 9-day germination seeds provided the highest inhibition. Furthermore, germinated lupins provided more vitamin C, vitamin E activity and polyphenols than raw seeds, and the largest amounts of these bioactive compounds were found after 6 days of germination. Therefore, germination of lupin seeds (Lupinus angustifolius L. var. Zapaton) R. Fernandez-Orozco EU Centre of Excellence CENEXFOOD, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Tuwima 10, 10-747 Olsztyn, Poland M. K. Piskula · H. Zielinski · H. Kozlowska Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences, Tuwima 10, 10-747 Olsztyn, Poland J. Frias · C. Vidal-Valverde () Concepci´ on Vidal-Valverde, Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales (C.S.I.C.), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain e-mail: ificv12@ifi.csic.es Tel.: +34-915622900 Ext 241 Fax: +34-915644873 seems to be a good process to enhance their antioxidant capacity. Keywords Lupin . Germination . Antioxidant capacity . Vitamin C . Vitamin E . Polyphenols Introduction Seed sprouts have long been used in the diet as healthy food and recent research shows that, in addition of being a good source of basic nutrients, they also contain important phytochemicals with disease preventive and health promot- ing properties [1]. Seed germination, mainly mung beans (Vigna radiata) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa), is widely extended in Eastern countries, and freshness, crunchy and sweet characteristics, together with healthy aspects, makes legume sprouts acceptable by western consumers. The chemical changes that occur during seed sprouting activate enzyme processes that are sustained at later growth stages. A multitude of chemical changes occur to mobi- lize the stored carbohydrate and protein reserve into the growing sprout and simple carbohydrates, free amino acids and essential nutrients in available form can be used read- ily by the body. Therefore, sprouting improves the nutri- tional value of the seed sprouts significantly [2–5] and de- creases the content of antinutrients such as α-galactosides [6], trypsin inhibitors [7] and phytic acid [8] in the seeds, making legume sprouts more digestive, less flatulent and with enhanced nutritional quality. Germinated lupins (Lupi- nus albus var. multolupa) contain higher amounts of toco- pherols and ascorbic acid than raw seeds [9], mung bean (Vigna radiata) sprouts have high amounts of phenolics, vi- tamins and minerals [10] and fenugreek sprouts (Trigonella foenumgraecum) show higher antioxidant activity during early germination [11]. Furthermore, during legume germi- nation some non-protein amino acids decrease while others increase or new compounds appear, some of them of phys- iological importance [12–14]. With the current upsurge of interest about the efficiency and function of natural antioxidants in food and biologi-