Dr Urszula Kupa-Kozak from the Department of Food Chemistry and Biodynamics of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn and Dr Łukasz Łopusiewicz from the West Pomeranian University of Technology are working on a new gluten-free bread recipe. They are using oilcakes, i.e. residues from the pressing of oilseed oil.

Due to their content of valuable biopolymers and bioactive components, one of the applications of oilcakes, or pomace, could be to enrich baked goods for special dietary use.

“Gluten-free baked products, compared to conventional bread, are characterised by lower quality due to unsatisfactory texture, inferior taste, reduced nutritional value and short shelf life. The need to improve their quality and enrich them with nutrients led us to undertake research on the potential of flaxseed cake, as a natural source of valuable protein, minerals and antioxidants, in the context of improving the qualities of gluten-free bread”, wrote the researchers in their publication, which appeared in the journal Molecules.

The latest study by a team of Polish scientists investigated the use of flaxseed press cake to enrich the composition of gluten-free bread. The researchers used flaxseed cake extract to replace water (between 25 and 100 per cent of its original content).

According to their publication, flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) has become an abundant nutritional and functional food due to its significant amounts of high-quality proteins and minerals and exceptionally high content of α-linolenic acid, omega-3 fatty acid, lignans and dietary fibre. Numerous studies have demonstrated the production of high-quality cereal products enriched with flaxseed with desirable health properties, showing a similar or longer shelf life compared to equivalent products.

Adrian Andrzejewski