Advances on Nutritional Functional Components and Comprehensive Utilization of Wheat Germ

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, and functional active components. However, due to its high endogenous enzyme activity and rich content of unsaturated fatty acids, it tends to get acidificated and deteriorated rapidly, which seriously limits its development in deep processing industry. Therefore, the paper presents several separation and stabilization techniques that wheat germ went through, and summarizes the comprehensive utilization of wheat germ. Besides, the limitations and low comprehensive utilization rate of nutrition are being analyzed and discussed, and their further research and potential application prospect are prospected, aiming to provide a reference for reasonable utilization of wheat germ resources.