Evaluation of antioxidative and diabetes-preventive properties of an ancient grain, KAMUT(®) khorasan wheat, in healthy volunteers

PURPOSE: Recently, there was an increasing interest on the use of ancient grains because of their better health-related composition. The aim of this study was to evaluate in healthy human subjects the antioxidative and diabetes-preventive properties of ancient KAMUT(®) khorasan wheat compared to modern wheat. METHODS: The study was a randomized, non-blind, parallel arm study where the biochemical parameters of volunteers with a diet based on organic whole grain KAMUT(®) khorasan products, as the only source of cereal products were compared to a similar replacement diet based on organic whole grain modern durum wheat products. A total of 30 healthy volunteers were recruited and the intervention period lasted 16 weeks. Blood analyses were performed before and after the diet intervention. The effect of KAMUT(®) khorasan products on biochemical parameters was analyzed by multiple quantile regression adjusted for age, sex, physical activity and BMI compared to data at baseline. RESULTS: Subjects receiving KAMUT(®) khorasan products showed a significantly greater decrease of fat mass (b = 3.7%; CI 1.6–5.5; p = 0.042), insulin (b = 2.4 µU/ml; CI 0.2–4.2; p = 0.036) and a significant increase of DHA (b = − 0.52%; CI − 1.1 to − 0.12; p = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence that a substitution diet with KAMUT(®) khorasan wheat products can reduce some markers associated to the development of type-2 diabetes compared to a diet of modern wheat.