Foods., 2018., Nov 20;7(11). pii: E191. doi: 10.3390/foods7110191.

Bread Enrichment with Oilseeds. A Review.

de Lamo B, Gómez M.

The use of oilseeds in bakery products has gained popularity in recent years, both for their organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. The aim of this work is to provide an overview of the studies centered on the use of oilseeds (flaxseed, chia, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and poppyseed) in breads and other bakery products. This review highlights the effect of oilseeds on the mechanical and physical properties of bread according to the enrichment level, origin and way of addition (whole, crushed, oil or mucilage). In general, the incorporation of oilseeds improves the nutritional profile of bakery products with and without gluten, and provides several health benefits. Mucilages of oilseeds can also act as a fat replacer thanks to their properties. The incorporation of oilseeds modifies the rheology of the doughs, the volume of the products and their texture, affecting their organoleptic characteristics and their acceptability. Nevertheless, these changes will depend on the type of seed used, as well as on the method of addition.

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Since bread is considered a staple food worldwide because of its nutritive value, low price and its simplicity of use, it is ideally suited for fortification with oilseeds. The impact of oilseeds on bread baking has been studied and this paper provides a review of this information. For flaxseed, the oxidative stability of the enriched products, must be considered. Also, flax is high in soluble fibre. These mucilaginous polysaccharides exude when they are placed in aqueous medium and can be added to the formulation to provide advantageous technological properties in terms of food development. The hydration of flax or flours before their incorporation into the bread doughs, in order to extract these polysaccharides, can modify the rheology of the doughs and the quality of the breads. Flax can also be added only on the surface of breads or other products, in which case the influence on the final product will be less.  Regarding the incorporation of flax, as seed or flour, the incorporation of milled brown flaxseed in breads at level of up to 13% resulted in an increase in the content of fiber, P, K, Mg, Zn and ALA. The incorporation of ground flaxseed hulls at levels lower than 5% was sufficient to increase significantly the antioxidant activity in breads. Research has shown that milling flax improved the bioavailability of the enterolignans, and therefore their nutritional advantages increased.  For flaxseed, it has been demonstrated that the incorporation in a wide number of products does not affect the consumption preferences, its use can be a good strategy to provide significant health-related benefits.