Finland develops gluten-free oat bread for export
At LAB University of Applied Sciences in Finland, researchers are developing gluten-free oat bread, which is being considered a promising product for export. Researcher Saara Sammalisto is looking for ways to make such bread fluffy, soft and moist — qualities that, she says, are often lacking in everyday bread for people with celiac disease. This was reported by YLE News.
The role of beta-glucan
Sammalisto earned her doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki for research into baking with oats and continues her work in LAB's experimental bakery and product development facilities. In her dissertation research, she found that beta-glucan isolated from oats works well as a hydrocolloid in the production of gluten-free oat bread.
Hydrocolloids bind water. They include, among others, psyllium seed husk and beta-glucan found in oats. According to the researcher, without these components, gluten-free dough can be very runny, lose air, and produce flat bread.
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Sammalisto noted that the quality and varieties of oats may affect the properties of the dough and finished bread even more than hydrocolloids. In her view, global demand for oats for baking will grow not only among people with celiac disease, but also because of oats' health-related properties.
Oat processing
The Food Pilot Plant at LAB University of Applied Sciences serves researchers and companies. Its goal is to increase the degree of processing of food raw materials, including by developing nearly ready-to-consume products. Finland is one of the important oat-producing countries, but most of this production is exported as grain.
LAB expert Pasi Raja noted that deeper processing of oats increases their added value. At the same time, Mikko Lehtinen, an entrepreneur at the consulting company Baron Foodtech, believes that Finnish companies should not compete with international baking giants in the mass-market basic products segment. According to him, oatmeal and granola are widely available in the United States, while oat bread is rare. Baron Foodtech is currently involved in establishing an industrial sourdough bakery in the United States.
