New oat has increased beta-glucan content

Combined with a healthy diet, beta-glucan can help lower blood levels of so-called "bad" cholesterol, diminishing the risk of heart disease. In August, ARS and NDSU scientists published their joint registration of "HiFi," a new spring oat bred specifically for increased beta-glucan content.

According to Doug Doehlert, a cereal chemist with ARS' Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, N.D., HiFi boasts 50 percent more beta-glucan than whole-oat products now sold in grocery stores.

This means a consumer could eat less of a whole-oat product made with HiFi to get the same health benefit. Or, more of the food could be eaten to gain even more of beta-glucan's benefits, according to Doehlert, in the ARS center's Cereal Crops Research Unit.
Doehlert and Mike McMullen of NDSU have been cooperatively breeding oats since 1993. During routine grain analysis, Doehlert noticed something odd: One of the oat lines furnished by McMullen contained more beta-glucan than usual.

For more information, see USDA Press Release.