Utilization of flaxseed protein isolates to improve the nutritional quality of bakery products

Malnutrition has been a serious health issue in the developing economies since times. The basic cause for this menace is the consumption of inadequate quantity of proteins or the lack of availability of quality proteins. In Pakistan people mostly rely on wheat and rice as staple foods which are unable to fulfill the requirement for proteins in the present circumstances. There is dire need to increase the intake of quality proteins e.g. nuts and animal proteins. Comparing these two vital sources of quality proteins, animal proteins are more expensive. Therefore, proteins from plant sources are being prominent. Among these sources, oilseed crops/plants are an imperative source of quality proteins. Oilseed crops are basically used for oil extraction purpose and the remaining defatted meal is used in the animal feeds. This defatted meal contains a considerable quantity of quality proteins. Flaxseed, an oilseed crop exhibits a remarkable nutritional profile. Defatted flaxseed meal is a rich source of high quality proteins which can be extracted through isoelectric precipitation method as protein isolates. Owing to their excellent functional properties, these protein isolates can further be utilized as a vital ingredient in numerous bakery products. As bakery products are gaining popularity, these can be a handy tool to curtail protein energy malnutrition when supplemented with quality proteins obtained from plant sources

Keywords:

Flaxseed , Protein isolates , Sensory evaluation , Muffins