Chemical composition and sensory characteristics of oat flakes: A comparative study of naked oat flakes from China and hulled oat flakes from western countries

• Naked and covered oat flake from domestic and abroad were collected.
• Sensory quality and chemical components of oat flakes were investigated.
• The naked oats contained more protein & lipid but less β-glucan than the covered oats.
• Covered oat flakes showed higher TWAI and sensory evaluation score than naked ones.

Oats are generally considered as a health food and widely accepted by human beings nowadays. Oat flakes are the main commercial oat products around the world. In order to understand the chemical composition and sensory characteristics of the naked oat flakes from China and the hulled oat flakes from western countries, 37 flake samples from China and 44 samples from western countries (8 from the USA, 8 from Canada, 5 from Sweden, 8 from Denmark, 7 from the United Kingdom, and 8 from New Zealand) were investigated in the present study. The results indicated that naked oat flakes showed significantly higher (P < 0.01) contents of lipid and Na, a higher level of whiteness (P < 0.05) and lower (P < 0.01) contents of β-glucan and Fe, compared to hulled oat flakes from western countries. No significant differences of Zn, Ca, and total ash contents were observed between naked oat flakes and hulled oat flakes. In addition, naked oat flakes showed significantly higher water absorption index at room temperature (P < 0.01) when compared with hulled oat flakes. Hulled oat flakes showed higher sensory evaluation score than naked oat flakes (P < 0.01).