Ma_2026_Food.Res.Int_243_120408

Oats, as a representative nutritious grain, are rich in various bioactive compounds, but the high endogenous lipid-related enzymes make their flour highly susceptible to hydrolytic and oxidative rancidity during storage, thus affecting nutrition and sensory quality. In this study, four thermal stabilization technologies, including microwave (MW), stir-frying (SF), far-infrared (FIR), and atmospheric steam (AS), were used to improve the storage stability of oat flour. The results showed that all treatments reduced initial lipase (LA) activity by more than 91% and delayed lipid deterioration to varying degrees. However, AS provided the strongest stabilization effect, as evidenced by the lowest measured residual enzyme activity and the highest total phenolic retention during storage. Compared with the untreated control at the end of storage, AS-treated oat flour showed only a 1.3-fold increase in fatty acid value, while peroxide value and malondialdehyde content were reduced by 38.8% and 19.9%, respectively. Furthermore, volatile profiling showed that AS restrained the accumulation of lipid-derived volatile compounds associated with oxidation, particularly aldehydes. Lipidomic analysis showed that AS markedly reduced storage-induced lipid remodeling mainly by limiting triglyceride hydrolysis, free fatty acid release, and the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acid. These findings indicated that AS outperformed other thermal treatments in elevating the storage stability of oat flour, which provided basic support for improving the shelf-life quality of whole-grain oat products.