Bran as a food supplement

Did you know that bran can be a superfood?

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 02.09.2025, 13:42

Used to its full potential, bran can help cure conditions such as obesity, diabetes, or cancer, thanks to the synergistic effect of fibres and of antioxidants, which are bioactive compounds. This is the topic of research conducted for her Ph.D. thesis by Lavinia Mureșan, a lecturer at the Department of Food Science and Technology with USAMV Cluj-Napoca.

Lavinia Mureșan teaches food chemistry and special biotechnologies. She is a member of a research team of the Food Science and Technology Department with the Institute of Life Sciences (USAMV Cluj). The team is headed by Prof. Dan Vodnar, Ph. D., and received the “Gheorghe Ionescu-Șișești” award for biotechnology at the 2024 Romanian Research Gala, for the innovative nature of the research, at national and international level.

Lavinia Mureșan: “My Ph.D. work concerns food biotechnologies, particularly thermal treatment and fermentation on solid substrate in order to increase the bioavailability of various phenolic compounds from grain by-products. This was basically the topic with which I started out as a Ph.D. student, and it proved to be quite versatile in terms of continuity, taking into account the research project that preceded this research topic and which is called “In situ fortification of grain products with vitamin B12 using fermentations on solid substrate”.

But what does this mean for non-specialists—for us? What is wheat or oat bran?

Lavinia Mureșan: “These grain by-products strictly mean wheat and oat bran. These were the ones we researched. They practically include the entire spectrum of vitamins and minerals found in the wheat grain, namely phenolic compounds. The inside of the wheat grain is basically used only as a source of starch. Other than that, the minerals, vitamins, phenolic compounds are found in this outer shell that is actually this rather thick, brittle layer, the bran. Of course this entails difficulties from a technological point of view. That is why it is removed when grains are processed into flour. But actually there is this entire spectrum of microelements and bioactive compounds there. Phenolic compounds, in addition to being recognized in the last 5 years as an important source of food for microorganisms, a source of prebiotics, have extraordinary antioxidant activity in the human body. The problem, and what we proved in the doctoral thesis, is their low availability. When we ingest this bran, we are unable to truly enjoy the antioxidant effect of these phenolic compounds. Why? Because they are biochemically bound in a complex matrix, in a complex fibre. And the solution that we found was to use various microorganisms that are safe for consumption, such as yeasts used in various industries, such as the baking industry or the brewing industry. These microorganisms are able to produce enzymes that can cut these bonds and release those phenolic compounds before this bran is ingested, so that when we eat they can go directly into the intestine, and into the bloodstream.”

Although the research is successful, the product is not yet available on the market. Lavinia Mureșan explains:

Lavinia Mureșan: “The focus, as far as bran is concerned, was on fibres. Bran is an extraordinary source of fibres. That is right. And the structure of grain, with the entire amount of fibre located in the bran, enables it to provide these effects in various pathologies, but it is a synergistic effect. It is not just about these antioxidant compounds, as much as it is about the synergy between antioxidant compounds and fibres. And all the studies on the effects on health, especially in the field of medicine, have proven these effects against cancer, against obesity, diabetes and many more that have been proven and we have written a review on this topic.”

The next step is for this bran fermentation process to be taken up on an industrial scale, so that consumers may benefit from everything bran has to offer. And this could also be the beginning of its use as a food supplement. (AMP)