SASKATOON – Farmers are likely to see more value for their flax from new medical research that appears to explain why the oilseed is beneficial in the treatment of a host of diseases.
Medical researchers in Saskatoon and London, Ont. have zeroed in on the component in flax meal that seems almost a magic elixir.
The material is called secoisolariciresinol diglucoside, or SDG, and it appears to regulate the body’s immune system.
Bill Clark of the London Health Science Centre said some diseases cause the body’s immune system to work overtime, leading to tissue damage and scarring. SDG appears to reduce it.
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“If it is a successful therapeutic agent, then its impact would be quite extensive,” Clark said.
“In terms of the population that use it, you’re looking at the lupus population, the rheumatoid arthritis population, the diabetic population, people who are concerned about accelerated atherosclerosis – you’re probably looking at a third or half of the population.”
Effective procedure
SDG has been known for decades, but only recently have scientists in the crop utilization program at the Agriculture Canada research centre here been able to develop a practical procedure to extract it in large quantities.
“The challenge was to take a method that was extremely laborious, that used solvents that caused health concerns, and find a way of producing the product quickly and as purely as possible and yet use common, everyday procedures,” said Alister Muir, the Agriculture Canada researcher who developed the process with associate Neil Westcott.
The technique is novel enough that the team has applied for a patent.
The group has also contacted pharmaceutical and food processing companies to determine their interest in becoming partners in the further development and possible commercialization of the process, he said.
Muir said all flax has SDG. A kilogram of flax meal will yield 10-30 grams of it.
If the new theories are proven and the process becomes commercial, then plant breeders would probably start working toward higher SDG level varieties, he said.
But because environmental factors also affect SDG levels, companies buying flax for the new process would probably follow the lead of the malting industry and have samples tested for high SDG before paying a premium for the seed.
Both processes possible
“But it is not an either-or scenario, where flax either goes for traditional oil crushing and livestock feeding or it goes for lignan (SDG) processing,” he said.
The seed would be crushed for oil and then go to the SDG plant for processing. The remaining meal is still a high protein livestock feed.
Muir believes finding a commercial partner will be easy.
“Hopefully, by Christmas or early in the new year, we’ll be able to announce who we are going to work with,” he said.
