University of Saskatchewan researchers say an inedible crop that was once linked to cancer could eventually be an ingredient in cookies, breads and snack foods.
When CDC Maria was released by the university’s Crop Development Centre in 1997, it took the bird seed market by storm.
The hairless variety of canaryseed provided great relief for combine operators, grain handlers and processors whose skin and lungs were irritated by the tiny hairs associated with conventional canaryseed.
Those small trichomes are similar to asbestos and glass fibre and have been identified as the likely cause of elevated rates of esophageal cancer in processing centres such as Iran.
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CDC Maria, which is marketed under the trademark Canario, was a big advancement in bird seed. But crop breeder Pierre Hucl has even higher hopes for the variety and other hairless copycats.
His research, funded by the Canada Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund, shows that the crop could be used in a variety of food applications.
“One of the things we decided to look at is can you use it in flour blends,” Hucl said.
To his surprise, the research team determined canaryseed protein is related to wheat gluten and produces a bread flour with comparable baking characteristics.
“We went up to about a 25 percent blend and we found that really there was no adverse effect of canaryseed flour on baking quality.”
Other alternatives explored included a canaryseed poultry feed and rice noodles made from modified starch.
“Each canaryseed component was analyzed and found to be promising for the food industry: the flour for producing cookies; a protein isolate as a nutritional supplement and oil as a source of highly unsaturated fatty acids,” Hucl said.
Perhaps the most promising food product was a sesame seed substitute. Once it is dehulled and roasted, it makes a tasty kernel that could be a low-fat equivalent to the popular snack and baking ingredient.
Hucl said the research’s goal is to expand the market for canaryseed and help eliminate multi-year price depressions that can follow one year of overproduction.
“That’s what we want to address, is to find alternate outlets to get out of those lows.”
The industry would like to see the crop gradually rise to 750,000 acres, up from a 10-year average of 450,000 acres, without distorting bird seed markets.
But there are a number of obstacles to overcome before canaryseed finds its way into any type of food, the first being Health Canada approval.
That will require more research, which in turn requires more funding. Hucl said AFIF support for the research project ran out more than two years ago and little has been done since.
He needs to raise about $150,000 to satisfy Health Canada’s initial safety assessment concerns.
Some of the money could eventually be provided by the newly formed Canaryseed Association of Canada, but that group won’t have much to contribute until it gets a checkoff in place in two or three years.
Hucl said finding an intermediate source of funding for the project will be part of his winter agenda.
The breeder is also bringing forward a new hairless line for registration this February.
