Sprouts are increasingly present in the human diet, being tasty and healthy foods high in antioxidant compounds. Although there is a body of literature on the sprouting of many plant species, Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz has not yet been studied for this purpose. This study aimed to characterize the main bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential of seeds and sprouts of five different Camelina cultivars (ALBA, CO46, CCE43, JOELLE, and VERA). In particular, the contents of phenolic compounds (PCs), phenolic acids (PAs), and glucosinolates (GLSs) were investigated. PCs, PAs, GLSs, and the antioxidant activity of seeds differed among cultivars and were greatly increased by sprouting. A PCA analysis underlined both the effect of the cultivar (PC2) and the germination (PC1) on the nutritional properties of Camelina. The best nutritional properties of seeds were observed for ALBA and CCE43, while the best nutritional properties of sprouts were recorded for CCE43 and JOELLE, since the latter cultivar showed a greater enhancement in phytochemical content and antioxidant activity with sprouting. Finally, a UHPLC-UV procedure for the analysis of GLSs in Camelina was developed and validated. The performance criteria of the proposed method demonstrated that it is useful for the analysis of GLSs in Camelina.
Keywords: Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz; UHPLC-UV; antioxidant capacity; glucosinolates; method validation; phenolic acids; phenolic compounds; seeds; sprouts.