Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460

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Journal of Food Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Functional properties and chemical composition of fractionated brown and

yellow linseed meal (Linum usitatissimum L.)
Klaus Mueller a,*, Peter Eisner a, Yumiko Yoshie-Stark b, Reiko Nakada b, Eva Kirchhoff a
a
Department of Process Engineering, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, Freising, Germany
b
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Marine Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Considering its high content of protein and dietary fiber, linseed meal is a remarkable source for food
Received 5 November 2009 ingredient and food additive production. In this study, brown and yellow linseed meal (Linum usitatissi-
Received in revised form 13 January 2010 mum L.) were fractionated via pH control, to obtain five linseed meal fractions rich in protein and fiber.
Accepted 23 January 2010
The fractions were characterized by measuring functional properties, proximate and carbohydrate com-
Available online 28 January 2010
position, and lignan contents. Acid soluble protein fractions were characterized by lower emulsification
capacities and foaming activities in comparison to a commercial soy protein isolate. Alkaline soluble pro-
Keywords:
tein fractions showed emulsification activities comparable to whole egg and relatively high contents of
Linum usitatissimum L.
Linola
secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) of 110 mg/g DM and 56.2 mg/g DM, respectively. The good emul-
Fractionation sification and foaming activities, as well as the enriched concentration of SDG and therefore high nutri-
Functional properties tional value, make especially the alkaline soluble protein fraction highly interesting for food ingredient
Carbohydrate composition production.
Lignans Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside
Ferulic acid glucoside
Coumaric acid glucoside

1. Introduction food processing, and soluble fibers could additionally stabilize

emulsions. Dev and Quensel (1986) reported that functional prop-
Linseed is one of the most important cultivated plants concern- erties of alkaline-extracted linseed protein fractions showed func-
ing its linen and oil (FAO, 2008). A protein-rich linseed cake results tional properties comparable to those of soy protein isolates.
as a by-product of linseed oil production, which is currently mainly Oomah and Mazza (1998) and Chung et al. (2005) found that de-
used as animal feed or fertilizer. Linseed meal is reported to have a hulling treatment can provide an effective fractionation for gum
high nutritional potential, not only based on its high protein con- and proteins. However, de-hulling procedure costs are relatively
tent (Oomah and Mazza, 1993a), but also because of its water-sol- high and therefore the linseed meal resulting from the usual indus-
uble fiber fraction (Warrand et al., 2005) and lignan content trial oil production includes the hulls.
(Hyvärinen et al., 2006a). Lignans especially secoisolariciresinol The objective of this study was to fractionate industrial brown
diglucoside (SDG), are claimed to be effective in reducing the risk linseed meal and evaluate the resulting fractions by measuring
of cardiovascular diseases and might be efficient in inhibiting the functional properties, chemical composition and lignan contents
development of diabetes (Westcott and Muir, 2003). The health for applicability as food ingredients or food additives. Because a
benefits of these compounds are suggested to be due to their anti- dark color of the final food products is not desirable using the
oxidant activity and estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties (Hall resulting fractions as food ingredients, also a yellow (light color)
et al., 2006). linseed variety was investigated in this study.
Ideally, the protein and/or fiber containing fraction that results
from the fractionation of linseed meal, could be applied as a food
additive or a food ingredient in processed foods. Proteins are ex- 2. Materials and methods
pected to contribute to emulsification and foaming activities in
2.1. Materials

* Corresponding author. Address: Department of Process Engineering, Fraunhofer

Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, Giggenhauser Str. 35, 85354,
Brown and yellow (Linola) linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) were
Freising, Germany. Tel.: +49 (0)8161 491405; fax: +49 (0)8161 491444. obtained from C. Thywissen GmbH, Germany. The brown linseed
E-mail address: klaus.mueller@ivv.fraunhofer.de (K. Mueller). has a predominant market share in comparison to Linola seed.

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2010.01.028
454 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460

Whereas brown linseed is normally processed by a combination of tated in the reactor, which was held at a constant temperature
cold and hot pressing, yellow linseed is usually treated by hot by a cooling or heating system. The oil was automatically added
pressing to recover the oil. In this study, the brown linseed was by a titration system (Metrohm GmbH & Co. KG, Herisau, Switzer-
cold pressed (C. Thywissen GmbH, Germany) in order to obtain land). The conductivity was continuously measured and used for
protein fractions with as unmodified protein structures as possible. determining the inversion point of the emulsion. The amount of
Yellow linseed meal was only available obtained pretreated by hot oil which was added up to the inversion point of the emulsion
pressing to remove oil (C. Thywissen GmbH, Germany). After was used to calculate the emulsification capacity (mL oil/g
pressing, linseed meal was de-oiled using iso-hexane and followed protein).
by milling using a Retsch ZM-100 mill (Duesseldorf, Germany) Foams were generated using a whipping machine (Hobart N 50,
obtaining a powder (d50 < 400 lm). This de-oiled linseed meal Hobart GmbH, Offenburg, Germany). The foaming activities of 5 g/
powders were used for the fractionation of protein and fibers. 100 g sample solutions were obtained by comparing the foam vol-
All reagents used for the experiments were of analytical grade. ume after 8 min of whipping with the volume of starting sample
solution. The foaming activity was calculated according to:
2.2. Proximate analysis
%FA ¼ foam vol after whipping=vol of sample solution  100
The chemical composition (dry matter, nitrogen content and
ash content) of the linseeds, linseed meal, de-oiled linseed meal, 2.6. Viscosity measurements
and the processed fractions, rich in protein or rich in fiber, were
analyzed in accordance with the German Food Act (1980). Fat con- Rheological determinations were performed at steady share
tent was analyzed according to Pendl et al. (1998). stress with a Bohlin rheometer CVO 50 (Bohlin Instruments, Pforz-
heim, Germany). Linseed fractions were suspended at 20 g/L in
2.3. Protein solubility of linseed meal and de-oiled linseed meal deionized water with stirring until suspended well. Under constant
pH value (pH 7.0) and shear rate (300 s1) the influence of temper-
The protein solubility of linseed meal and de-oiled linseed meal ature on the viscosity was evaluated from 10 to 90 °C.
was analyzed following the method of Morr et al. (1985) at pH 3–8.
The nitrogen solubility index (NSI) value was determined in accor- 2.7. Further chemical analysis of linseed fractions
dance with the official AOCS (1998) or AACC (2000a) method. The
protein solubility curve was obtained by mixing protein samples The molecular weight of linseed meal fractions was analyzed by
(1 g) in 50 mL 100 mM sodium chloride solution at a set pH and gel permeation chromatography. The HPLC was performed on Sho-
at room temperature for 60 min. The non-dissolved fraction was dex Asahipak GS-510HQ (300 mm  7.6 mm i.d., Showa Denko Co.,
separated by centrifugation at 20,000g for 15 min. The protein Tokyo, Japan) by elution with Milli-Q water at flow rate of 1.0 mL/
remaining in solution was determined by nitrogen analysis. The min. Column temperature was set at 40 °C, and RI detector was
protein solubility is given as the percentage of dissolved nitrogen used. Pullulan (P-82, Showa Denko Co., Tokyo, Japan) standard
compared to the nitrogen content of the starting sample. was used to evaluate the molecular weight.
Total sugar content of linseed meal fractions (except insoluble
2.4. Fractionation of de-oiled linseed meal dietary fiber fraction) was determined by the phenol–sulfuric acid
method using glucose as a standard (Dubois et al., 1956; Southgate,
Following the result of pH study of protein solubility from lin- 1991).
seed meal, the fractionation method was started with acidic Total uronic acid content was determined by a colorimetric
extraction. The detailed procedure is shown in Fig. 2. The ratio of method of Blumenkrantz and Asboe-Hansen (1973) using galact-
solid/solvent, temperature and pH were optimized by a prelimin- uronic acid as a standard.
ary experiment (Mueller and Eisner, 2007). De-oiled linseed meal Acid soluble carbohydrate and soluble dietary fiber fractions
was extracted under acidic conditions, then, acid soluble protein were hydrolyzed with 2 M trifluoroacetic acid for 1 h at 120 °C.
fraction and acid soluble carbohydrate fraction were obtained. Monosaccharide composition of them was analyzed by HPLC fitted
From acid insoluble residue, alkaline soluble protein fraction, alka- with Intertsil NH2 column (250  4.6 mm i.d., 5 lm, GL Science
line soluble carbohydrate (soluble dietary fiber) fraction, and insol- Co., Tokyo, Japan) operating at 40 °C with a flow rate of 0.7 mL/
uble dietary fiber fraction were prepared. Adjustment of pH was min. Elution was effected using an isocratic elution of acetoni-
carried out using 1 M NaOH solution and 1 M HCl solution, trile/water (75/25, v/v) as a solvent. Components were detected
respectively. by RI detector and identified by comparison of their retention
times with those of authentic standards under analysis conditions
2.5. Functional properties and quantified by external standard method.
Phenolic acid glucosides (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside and
The functional properties of the linseed meal fractions were hydroxycinnamic acid glucosides) in linseed fractions were ex-
determined using standardized methods. tracted following the method of Eliasson et al. (2003) and ana-
Protein solubility was determined at pH 7 according to the meth- lyzed by HPLC. Linseed fractions (200 mg), vortexed together
od of Morr et al. (1985), whereas the NSI value was determined in with 1.0 mL internal standard (o-coumaric acid, 0.8 mg/mL meth-
accordance with the official AOCS method (1998) or AACC official anol), was continuously mixed with 4 mL distilled water and 5 mL
method (2000a). 2 M aqueous sodium hydroxide for 1 h at 20 °C by constant rota-
Water binding capacity analysis was conducted according to the tion. The hydrolysate was acidified to pH 3 using 2 M sulfuric acid
AACC official method (2000b). Oil-binding capacity was deter- and centrifuged (1700g, 10 min). The supernatant was recentri-
mined by dispersing the sample in oil and subsequent centrifuga- fuged in microcentrifuge tubes (11,000g, 5 min) to a clear liquid
tion following a method described by Ludwig et al. (1989). phase. The liquid phase (0.6 mL) was mixed with 95% aqueous
In order to determine the (oil/water) emulsification capacity, a ethanol (0.9 mL) in microcentrifuge tubes, left at room tempera-
1 L laboratory reactor (IKA) with a stirrer unit and an emulsifying ture for at least 10 min and centrifuged (11,000g, 5 min) to pre-
system (Ultra-Turrax, IKA-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Staufen, Ger- cipitate and remove water-soluble polysaccharides and proteins.
many) was used. The protein solution (1 g/100 g, w/w) was agi- Before HPLC analysis, the sample was filtered through 0.45 lm
 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460 455

cellulose acetate filter. The sample solution was further subjected nents were detected by diode array detector and identified by
to PLC fitted with TSK-GEL column ODS-100V (5 lm, comparison of their retention times and spectra with those of
150  4.6 mm, Tosoh, Japan) operating at 40 °C with a flow rate authentic standards under analysis conditions. Recovery was cal-
of 1.0 mL/min. Elution was performed using an isocratic elution culated by internal standard (o-coumaric acid) and quantified by
of acetonitrile/0.1% phosphate (75/25, v/v) as a solvent. Compo- external standard method.

100
brown linseed press cake (12.7 % fat)
90
brown linseed meal (1.7 % fat)
yellow linseed meal (1.5 % fat)
80

70
Protein solubility [%]

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
pH value
Fig. 1. Protein solubility as a function of pH for linseed press cake.

Linseed Supernatant

Heat treatment at 90°C 10 min

Cold oil pressing

Centrifugation
Linseed press cake
Residue, neutralization Supernatant, neutralization
Hexane de-oiling
Spray drying Spray drying

De-oiled linseed meal

Acid soluble protein Acid soluble carbohydrates
Acid extraction at pH 4.0,
15o C 45 min
Supernatant

Centrifugation
Residue, neutralization Precipitation at pH 4.0,
35o C 45 min
Residue
Drying by convection oven
Centrifugation
Alkaline extraction at pH 8.0,
35oC, 45min
Insoluble dietary fiber Residue, neutralization Supernatant, neutralization

Centrifugation
Spray drying Spray drying

Alkaline soluble protein Soluble dietary fiber

Fig. 2. General procedure for the fractionation of linseed meal from oil production.
456 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460

2.8. Statistical analysis The acid soluble carbohydrate and soluble dietary fiber fractions,
respectively, contained 14.9 g/100 g and 15.6 g/100 g protein,
The results are presented as mean values ± SD (n = 3–5). ANOVA 75.27 g/100 g and 72.3 g/100 g carbohydrate and 0.50 g/100 g fat
was used to determine significant differences. each. The insoluble dietary fiber fractions of brown and yellow lin-
seed contained, respectively, 46.1 g/100 g and 39.0 g/100 g protein,
47.3 g/100 g and 55.6 g/100 g carbohydrate and 2.0 g/100 g fat
3. Results and discussion
each.
3.1. Protein solubility of linseed meal
3.3. Yield of each fraction
The effect of pH on protein solubility of linseed meal is shown in
Fig. 1. Egg white ovalbumin is known to have a minimum solubility The dry matter yield and protein yield of each fraction are
at pH 4.5 (iso-electric point), similar to egg, percent soluble protein shown in Table 2. From fractionation process, acid and alkaline sol-
of both, brown and yellow linseed meal was the lowest between uble protein fractions of brown and yellow linseed had in summary
pH 3 and 5. Oomah and Mazza (1997) determined the protein sol- a protein yield of 31.0% and 18.5%, respectively. Concerning the
ubility of de-hulled linseed with 87–92% at pH 7. Comparison to yields of the soluble dietary fiber fractions, 21.0% of dry matter
de-hulled linseed, brown linseed meal including hull showed in was recovered from brown linseed meal whilst only 6.80% of dry
this study less than 60% of protein solubility at pH 7. After optimi- matter was recovered from yellow linseed. The protein and carbo-
zation of the fractionation process by a preliminary experiment, hydrate recovery of brown linseed were significant higher than
first step of the fractionation was performed at pH 4, and, also con- that of yellow linseed, indicating the brown variety being more
sidering the report of Dev and Quensel (1986), following alkaline effectively and easily fractionated than yellow variety.
extraction was applied at pH 8.0 (cf. Fig. 2).
3.4. Functional properties
3.2. Chemical composition
Protein solubility at pH 7, water binding, oil binding, emulsifica-
The chemical compositions of raw linseed, linseed meals, de- tion capacity, and foaming activity of linseed fractions are shown
oiled linseed meals, acid soluble protein fractions, alkaline soluble in Table 3.
protein fractions, acid soluble carbohydrate fractions, and soluble The protein solubility of the alkaline soluble protein fraction
dietary fiber fractions are summarized in Table 1. Brown linseed from brown linseed was to a degree of 48.0% higher that of the cor-
contains 23.4 g/100 g protein and 45.2 g/100 g fat, while yellow responding fraction of yellow linseed and comparable to that of soy
linseed contains 23.3 g/100 g protein and 44.0 g/100 g fat. After
pressing of seed, brown and yellow linseed press cake showed a
Table 2
fat content of 12.4 g/100 g and 7.55 g/100 g, respectively. After Mass and protein yield of the fractionation process.
de-oiling by hexane, the content of fat of brown and yellow linseed
meal was 1.67 g/100 g, and 1.13 g/100 g, respectively. Dry matter yield (%) Protein yield (%)

After fractionation process of brown linseed meal, the acid sol- Brown linseed meal (hexane de-oiled) 100 100
uble protein and alkaline soluble protein fractions, respectively, Alkaline soluble protein 14.0 16.0
Acid soluble protein 10.0 15.0
contained 66.5 g/100 g and 71.1 g/100 g protein, 23.0 g/100 g and Soluble dietary fiber 21.0 14.0
21.5 g/100 g carbohydrate, and 1.80 g/100 g and 2.10 g/100 g fat. Acid soluble carbohydrates 11.0 10.0
Acid soluble carbohydrate and soluble dietary fiber fractions, Insoluble dietary fiber 44.0 45.0
respectively, contained 33.3 g/100 g and 32.3 g/100 g protein, Yellow linseed meal (hexane de- 100 100
55.6 g/100 g and 57.3 g/100 g carbohydrate and 0.30 g/100 g and oiled)
0.60 g/100 g fat. Alkaline soluble protein 8.9 15.4
Acid soluble protein 4.6 3.1
After fractionation process of yellow linseed meal, the acid sol-
Soluble dietary fiber 6.8 3.7
uble protein and alkaline soluble protein fractions, respectively, Acid soluble carbohydrates 12.3 5.3
contained 23.1 g/100 g and 63.4 g/100 g protein, 71.5 g/100 g and Insoluble dietary fiber 68.2 72.5
29.2 g/100 g carbohydrate and 1.90 g/100 g and 2.00 g/100 g fat.

Table 1
Chemical composition of linseed, linseed meal, de-oiled linseed meal, and processed fractions of linseed meal (mean ± SD, n = 3).

Dry matter (g/100 g) Protein (g/100 g DM) Ash (g/100 g DM) Fat (g/100 g DM) Carbohydrate (g/100 g DM)
Brown linseed (raw) 92.6 ± 0.41 23.4 ± 0.06 3.50 ± 0.10 45.2 ± 1.12 27.8 ± 1.08
Brown linseed press cake 87.4 ± 0.28 40.9 ± 2.54 6.30 ± 0.85 12.4 ± 1.97 45.3 ± 1.48
Brown linseed meal (hexane de-oiled) 90.3 ± 2.21 43.3 ± 1.13 6.40 ± 0.03 1.67 ± 0.04 48.7 ± 1.14
Alkaline soluble protein 94.2 ± 0.05 71.1 ± 0.15 5.3 ± 0.16 2.1 ± 0.19 21.5 ± 1.98
Acid soluble protein 96.4 ± 0.96 66.5 ± 0.03 8.7 ± 0.26 1.8 ± 0.19 23.0 ± 1.80
Soluble dietary fiber 93.1 ± 0.06 32.3 ± 0.01 9.7 ± 0.29 0.6 ± 0.08 57.3 ± 1.95
Acid soluble carbohydrates 93.8 ± 0.03 33.3 ± 0.11 10.8 ± 0.32 0.3 ± 0.01 55.6 ± 2.08
Insoluble dietary fiber 96.0 ± 0.23 46.1 ± 0.21 4.5 ± 0.14 2.0 ± 0.04 47.3 ± 2.21
Yellow linseed (raw) 92.7 ± 1.36 23.3 ± 0.88 3.38 ± 0.03 44.0 ± 1.97 29.4 ± 1.06
Yellow linseed press cake 91.4 ± 0.64 36.9 ± 2.58 6.19 ± 1.01 7.55 ± 1.91 44.5 ± 3.14
Yellow linseed meal (hexane de-oiled) 89.2 ± 0.73 39.8 ± 1.41 6.34 ± 0.35 1.13 ± 0.20 52.7 ± 1.96
Alkaline soluble protein 93.9 ± 0.05 63.4 ± 0.12 5.4 ± 0.09 2.0 ± 0.06 29.2 ± 1.06
Acid soluble protein 88.7 ± 0.03 23.1 ± 0.02 3.5 ± 0.07 1.9 ± 0.06 71.5 ± 1.92
Soluble dietary fiber 92.5 ± 0.19 15.6 ± 0.04 11.6 ± 0.55 0.5 ± 0.01 72.3 ± 2.04
Acid soluble carbohydrates 89.5 ± 0.02 14.9 ± 0.01 9.3 ± 0.02 0.5 ± 0.01 75.2 ± 2.34
Insoluble dietary fiber 94.2 ± 0.04 39.0 ± 0.03 3.4 ± 0.29 2.0 ± 0.06 55.6 ± 2.01
 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460 457

Table 3
Functional properties of processed fractions of linseed meal (mean ± SD, n = 3).

Protein solubility at pH 7 (%) Water binding (mL/g) Oil binding (mL/g) Emulsification capacity (mL/g) Foaming activity (%)
Brown linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 48.0 ± 0.28 0.8 ± 0.05 2.5 ± 0.11 535 ± 24.0 1651 ± 78.9
Acid soluble protein <20 5.0 ± 0.34 1.8 ± 0.13 250 ± 11.2 563 ± 26.9
Soluble dietary fiber N.A. 0 1.6 ± 0.07 145 ± 6.5 1512 ± 72.3
Acid soluble carbohydrates N.A. 0 1.6 ± 0.07 165 ± 7.4 1673 ± 80.0
Insoluble dietary fiber N.A. 6.7 ± 3.7 ± 0.17 N.A. N.A.
Yellow linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 30.0 ± 0.18 6.9 ± 0.46 0.9 ± 0.04 540 ± 24.2 1059 ± 50.6
Acid soluble protein 25.0 ± 0.15 N.A. 0.7 ± 0.03 216 ± 9.7 812 ± 38.8
Soluble dietary fiber N.A. 1.6 ± 0.11 2.0 ± 0.09 315 ± 14.1 640 ± 30.6
Acid soluble carbohydrates N.A. 1.0 ± 0.07 1.0 ± 0.04 400 ± 17.9 424 ± 20.3
Insoluble dietary fiber N.A. 6.8 ± 0.46 4.3 ± 0.19 N.A. N.A.
Soy protein isolate 45.0 ± 0.27 1.9 ± 0.13 1.8 ± 0.08 605 ± 27.2 900 ± 43.0

N.A. = not analyzed.

protein isolate. However, it was significantly lower than that of As shown in Fig. 3, among four of the brown linseed fractions,
whole egg (65.0%). Protein solubility of the acid soluble protein acid soluble carbohydrate fraction showed the highest viscosity
fraction of brown linseed was below the determination limit at and as temperature increased, the viscosity decreased dramati-
pH 7. However, the corresponding fraction of yellow linseed cally. In comparison to the other fractions, alkaline soluble protein
showed 25.0% protein solubility. fraction of brown linseed was not affected by temperature. As
Water binding capacity of both insoluble dietary fiber fractions shown in Fig. 4, the acid soluble carbohydrate fraction of yellow
were the strongest, with values of 6.70 mL/g brown linseed and linseed showed the highest viscosity. The temperature dependent
6.80 mL/g of yellow linseed, respectively. Fedeniuk and Biliaderis change of viscosity of acid soluble carbohydrate fraction of yellow
(1994) reported, that water binding capacity of linseed mucilage linseed was similar to that of brown linseed. However, the viscos-
was found with 16–30 g H2O/g sample, comparable to commercial ities of acid soluble carbohydrate fractions from brown and yellow
guar gum (22 g/g guar gum). Oil-binding capacity of the alkaline linseed were different, with values of 30 and 10 mPa/s at 20 °C, 7.0
soluble protein fraction of brown linseed was found with a signif- and 4.1 mPa/s at 90 °C, respectively. Oomah and Mazza (1993b)
icantly higher value of 2.5 mL/g in comparison to commercial soy found an apparent viscosity of 112.5 mPa/s for hexane de-oiled
protein isolate (1.80 mL/g). This value confirms the results of pre- commercial flaxseed meal. In comparison, acid soluble carbohy-
liminary studies of Dev and Quensel (1988) and Krause et al. drate fraction from brown linseed with the highest viscosity, which
(2002), respectively. They found relatively high oil-binding capac- is significantly lower, indicating the influence of the fractionation
ities for linseed protein isolates obtained by alkaline extraction. process on the rheological characteristics of the products. Fedeniuk
The oil-binding capacity values were higher with lower pentosan and Biliaderis (1994) found that viscosity at 20 g/L solution of lin-
concentration in the specific fraction (Krause et al., 2002). The seed mucilage fraction was affected by pH, especially between pH
oil-binding capacity of the alkaline soluble fraction of yellow lin- 2 and 6, and higher than pH 10. In this study, ambient pH was ap-
seed was found with a relatively low value of 0.9 mL/g, presumably plied, referring to a neutral pH in the final product. In future stud-
due to the heat influence during pressing. Madhusudhan and Singh ies, not only temperature influence, but also pH dependence of
(1985) found lower oil-binding capacities of boiled linseed meal in viscosity should be investigated, to evaluate the possibilities for
comparison with the raw linseed meal material. food application of the different fractions. Wang et al. (2008) and
Brown and yellow linseed alkaline soluble protein fractions Kalloufi et al. (2008) investigated the rheological changes by addi-
were characterized by emulsification capacity values of 535 mL tion of linseed gums to maize starch and whey protein emulsions.
oil/g protein and 540 mL oil/g protein, respectively. Determining Both of them mentioned a significant increase in viscosities of a
the emulsification capacity of whole egg and egg white for compar- solution and a dispersion, respectively, by addition of linseed
ison purposes, the capacity of alkaline soluble protein fractions gum at 0.1–0.3%. The use of linseed fractions containing protein
from both linseed varieties were found to be higher than for whole and soluble fiber may affect the rheological properties of emulsions
egg (495 mL/g) and lower than for egg white (800 mL/g). and foams occurring during dough and sausage processing. In food
The alkaline soluble protein fractions from brown and yellow development, it has to be considered that these soluble fiber frac-
linseeds showed foaming activity values of 1650% and 1060%, tions may influence the gel building properties of a food system.
respectively. Commercially available soy protein isolate, usable as
a food ingredient adding foaming properties to a food, shows a va- 3.6. Further chemical analysis of linseed fractions
lue of 900%. Oomah and Mazza (1993b) mentioned hexane de-
oiled commercial flaxseed meal had foaming capacity 59.2%, Molecular weight, total sugar and uronic acid contents of lin-
Wanasundara and Shahidi (1997) reported that linseed protein iso- seed fractions are summarized in Table 4. Monosaccharide compo-
late showed a foam expansion of 112% whipping 1% solutions for sition of soluble dietary fiber and acid soluble carbohydrate
30 s. In comparison, all obtained linseed protein containing frac- fractions are shown in Table 5. Main molecular weights of linseed
tions were found to be characterized by significant higher foaming fractions were in the range from 100,000 to 550,000. Madhusud-
activities while whipping 5% solutions for 8 min. han and Singh (1985) reported a molecular weight of the major
protein of linseed in the range of 250,000–300,000. Deviant to
3.5. Viscosity of linseed fractions the investigations of Madhusudhan and Singh (1985), all fractions
contained certain percentages of polysaccharides and therefore
Viscosities of the linseed fractions in dependence of the temper- showed a higher value for the highest main molecular weight.
ature are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Viscosity of 20 g/L (2%) brown and Focusing on an effective and reasonable separation of protein and
yellow linseed fraction solutions was found to be 4.0–26 and 3.8– fiber for food application, not the purification of the linseed pro-
10 mPa/s at a temperature of 20 °C. tein, the molecular weight distribution was quite wide. Total sugar
458 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460

35
Brown linssed
Concentration: 2%
Shear stress: 300 1/s
30

25
Soluble dietary fibre
Viscosity [mPas]

Acid soluble carbohydrates

20
Alkaline soluble protein
Acid soluble protein
15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Temperature [°C]
Fig. 3. Steady shear rheological curves of fractions of meal from brown linseed.

12
Yellow linssed
Concentration: 2%
Shear stress: 300 1/s
10

8
Viscosity [mPas]

Soluble dietary fibre

2 Acid soluble carbohydrates
Alkaline soluble protein
Acid soluble protein

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Temperature [°C]
Fig. 4. Steady shear rheological curves of fractions of meal from yellow linseed.

content of alkaline soluble protein fractions of brown and yellow analyzed. However, in these studies, both monosaccharides could
linseed, calculated as glucose, were 13.5 and 17.2 g/100 g, respec- not be detected. In contrast to the brown linseed, both yellow lin-
tively, and acid soluble protein fractions showed values of 20.3 seed fractions, soluble dietary fiber and acid soluble carbohydrates,
and 42.1 g/100 g. Uronic acid contents of the brown and yellow lin- did not contain galactose. As shown in Table 5, brown linseed sol-
seed fractions did not show significant differences. Acid soluble uble dietary fiber fraction mainly consisted of glucose followed by
carbohydrates from both linseed varieties showed similar molecu- galactose, and xylose. Brown linseed acid soluble carbohydrates
lar weight distribution, total sugar and uronic acid contents. How- mainly consisted of glucose followed by arabinose and xylose.
ever, monosaccharide composition of acid soluble carbohydrates Oomah et al. (1995) investigated the monosaccharide composition
and soluble dietary fiber fractions of brown and yellow linseed of the water-soluble polysaccharides of 109 brown and yellow lin-
showed significant differences (Table 5). The difference in sugar seed varieties originating from different regions of the world. Most
composition may be one reason for the different viscosities of yel- of the monosaccharide contents measured in the fractions of this
low and brown linseed fractions (Figs. 3 and 4). During monosac- study correspond to the results of Oomah et al. (1995). Differing,
charide investigation, fucose and galacturonic acid were also we found higher concentrations of arabinose in each of the
 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460 459

Table 4
Molecular weight, total sugar content, and uronic acid content of processed fractions of linseed meal (mean ± SD, n = 3).

Main molecular weight (103) Total sugar (g/100 g) Uronic acid (g/100 g)
Brown linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 550, 130 13.5 ± 1.09a 5.15 ± 1.11a
Acid soluble protein 540, 370, 150 20.3 ± 3.44bc 5.05 ± 0.96a
Soluble dietary fiber 530, 190, 130 50.2 ± 3.62e 7.39 ± 1.59bc
Acid soluble carbohydrates 520, 370, 200 53.6 ± 4.67e 9.30 ± 2.40c
Insoluble dietary fiber N.A. N.A. N.A.
Yellow linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 520, 400 17.2 ± 4.09b 4.44 ± 2.38ab
Acid soluble protein 500, 200 42.1 ± 3.98d 3.42 ± 2.00a
Soluble dietary fiber 550, 300 29.3 ± 6.81c 7.84 ± 2.06bc
Acid soluble carbohydrates 500, 330, 95 45.4 ± 3.98de 9.19 ± 1.38c
Insoluble dietary fiber N.A. N.A. N.A.

N.A. = not analyzed.

Different letters within the same column indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Table 5
Relative monosaccharide composition of carbohydrate rich fractions of linseed meal (mean ± SD, n = 3).

Sugar composition (molar ratio, %)

Rhamnose Xylose Arabinose Glucose Galactose
Brown linseed
Soluble dietary fiber 14.3 ± 1.61a 17.2 ± 1.68a 14.8 ± 1.77a 36.5 ± 4.08b 17.3 ± 1.00c
Acid soluble carbohydrates 18.0 ± 8.79ab 18.8 ± 5.91ab 19.6 ± 0.95b 36.4 ± 5.36b 7.10 ± 1.24b
Yellow linseed
Soluble dietary fiber 30.3 ± 1.27c 18.5 ± 5.58ab 25.5 ± 5.48c 26.2 ± 3.59a 0 ± 0a
Acid soluble carbohydrates 18.9 ± 0.41b 14.6 ± 0.85a 23.5 ± 0.05c 42.9 ± 1.31b 0 ± 0a

Different letters within the same column indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

fractions, and a relatively high rhamnose content in the soluble The acid soluble protein fraction of brown linseed contained the
dietary fiber fraction of the yellow linseed. Deviant to the studies smallest content of phenolic acid glucosides among all fractions.
of Oomah et al. (1995), we could not detect galactose in the yellow Alkaline soluble protein fraction of Linola contained the highest
linseed meal fractions. Warrand et al. (2005) performed the frac- amount of lignans. The yield of the total extracted amount of
tionation of linseed meal in a different way and they reported SDG, p-coumaric acid glucoside, and ferulic acid glucoside of the
the monosaccharides D-xylose and D-glucose in one fraction and de-oiled brown or yellow linseed were calculated using the values
D-galactose and D-arabinose in the other fraction, respectively, as shown in Table 2. Calculated 21.5 mg/g SDG, 0.22 mg/g p-coumaric
main components. The high glucose contents in the fractions of acid glucoside, and 1.09 mg/g ferulic acid glucoside were extracted
this study were confirmed by Warrand et al. (2005). Fedeniuk from de-oiled brown linseed, while 13.3 mg/g SDG, 0.11 mg/g p-
and Biliaderis (1994) and Alix et al. (2008) investigated the influ- coumaric acid glucoside, and 0.39 mg/g ferulic acid glucoside were
ence of extraction temperature on monosaccharide composition. extracted from de-oiled yellow linseed. Li et al. (2008) reported a
The results of these studies indicate a strong influence of extraction SDG content of de-oiled brown linseed of 15.4 mg/g. Eliasson
temperature on monosaccharide compositions of the carbohydrate et al. (2003) and Strandås et al. (2008a) reported lignan concentra-
rich fractions. tions in de-oiled brown linseed of 12–26 mg/g of SDG, 1.2–8.5 mg/g
The contents of phenolic acid compounds in linseed fractions of p-coumaric acid glucoside and 1.6–5.0 mg/g of ferulic acid
are shown in Table 6. In all four linseed fractions, SDG, p-coumaric glucoside. The lignan contents were depending on the samples
acid, and ferulic acid were detected. Only trace amounts of these origin. In comparison to these reports, all fractions were found to
lignans could be found in the insoluble dietary fiber fractions. contain 21 mg of SDG in sum. This indicates, that fractionation

Table 6
Content of phenolic compounds in linseed meal fractions (mean ± SD, n = 3).

Phenolic compounds (mg/g DM)

SDG p-Coumaric acid glucoside Ferulic acid glucoside
Brown linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 56.23 ± 1.56e 0.591 ± 0.123a 3.648 ± 0.186a
Acid soluble protein 9.77 ± 1.27a 0.149 ± 0.019a 0.521 ± 0.042a
Soluble dietary fiber 44.48 ± 4.32e 0.589 ± 0.103a 1.886 ± 0.076a
Acid soluble carbohydrates 35.16 ± 1.62d 0.133 ± 0.029a 0.435 ± 0.031a
Yellow linseed
Alkaline soluble protein 110.1 ± 11.5f 0.636 ± 0.178a 2.935 ± 1.138a
Acid soluble protein 15.7 ± 1.22b 0.245 ± 0.010a 0.514 ± 0.025a
Soluble dietary fiber 33.70 ± 1.90cd 0.355 ± 0.170a 1.015 ± 0.559a
Acid soluble carbohydrates 25.2 ± 2.71c 0.137 ± 0.019a 0.273 ± 0.050a

Different letters within the same column indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
460 K. Mueller et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 98 (2010) 453–460

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