Key Points
Milled flaxseed lends itself to addition in muffin batter, a complex mixture of a fat-in-liquid phase (oil/egg/sugar/water) in combination with dry ingredients (flour/leavening) which produces a porous structure with high volume. The oil in the flaxseed can replace part of the fat and its particulate matter can be added to the dry ingredients to replace part of the flour. Muffins are popular for snacks and as part of a breakfast meal, and are consumed by all age groups due to their good taste, soft texture 11 and convenience as no preparation is required. In a clinical trial lasting one year muffin fortified with 30g milled flaxseed was the food choice selected second most often after bagel from a list of seven food options offered. The product selected for fortification needs to deliver the required amount of the bioactive in a serving size without detrimentally affecting the study subjects in terms of digestive upsets. ALA in muffins was found to be bioavailable at increased levels in the blood and no one dropped out due to unfavorable reactions when taking a muffin fortified with 30g milled flaxseed for twelve weeks compared to a muffin with flaxseed oil or whole flaxseeds. In consumer acceptability studies participants typically taste a portion of each test sample at one time in a controlled setting and may or may not be interested in healthy foods. Participants in a clinical trial consume the fortified food daily over a period of weeks or months. The acceptability of the food intervention may be influenced by the amount and time period of muffin ingestion, environmental setting, and investment of time related to health outcome, variables that are characteristics of these two groups. Muffins in a clinical trial fortified with approximately 27g of de-fatted soy flour were rated as “like slightly” to
“like moderately” by participants after eating them for a week 29. These values were significantly higher compared to the control muffin with no soy flour. The objectives were two fold 1) to determine the effect of flax level and storage conditions on ALA and SDG, the sensory attribute intensities and selected physical characteristics of flax fortified cinnamon and banana muffins and, 2) to determine the acceptability of flax-fortified cinnamon and banana muffins for two groups, clinical trial participants (repeated exposure with health motivation) and consumers (one time ingestion with no health motivation). It was reported that the bioactive components ALA and SDG were maintained in the flax fortified muffins stored for 6 months with a slight increase shown for SDG. Storage for 6 months resulted in muffins that were higher in firmness and mouth dryness. Flax addition altered the muffin characteristics by increasing flax aroma and flavor, sour aroma, cohesiveness of mass and brown color and decreasing sweet aroma and flavor, banana and cinnamon aroma and flavor, springiness and mouth dryness. As a group, clinical trial participants rated the muffins with flaxseed higher than the consumer
group although not significantly higher than the no flax muffins. Consumers on the other hand rated the no flax muffins significantly higher than the flax muffins. This may be due to the lack of health motivation and no repeat tasting in order to become familiar with the product. Clinical trial participants when provided with a health claim would significantly increase their frequency of consumption of flax muffins over no flax muffins.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Muffins containing 0, 20 and 30g of flaxseed were developed for a randomized, controlled, cross-over trial on LDL cholesterol lowering. The effect of milled flaxseed and storage (-20o C for 1 and 6 months) of banana and cinnamon muffins on sensory attribute intensities, selected physical properties, bioactive concentrations and acceptability by two groups, clinical trial participants and consumers, was investigated. RESULTS: Flax addition increased flax aroma and flavor, sour aroma, cohesiveness of mass and brown color, and decreased sweet aroma and flavor, banana and cinnamon aroma and flavor, springiness and mouth dryness. Alpha-linolenic acid and secoisolariciresinol diglucoside were significantly increased when flax was increased from 20 to 30g. Clinical trial participants generally found the muffins more acceptable than the consumers. Consumers reported significantly decreased acceptability when flax at any level was added to muffins, with 30g the least acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Muffins with 20g flaxseed generally had higher acceptability mean values compared to muffins with 30g. Neither flavoring nor storage at -20o C for 6 months appreciably changed muffin attributes or acceptability. Future work will optimize the ingredients as well as the amount of flax needed to provide the required amount of bioactive to positively affect LDL cholesterol level and to produce acceptable muffins
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