Food processing centre tests pasta, snacks and cereals made from barley
BANFF, Alta. — The barley industry has been creating new recipes in hopes of building on the health designation it received from Health Canada.
The designation states that barley fibre can help reduce heart disease.
“Barley is a whole grain and there is a huge push for consumers consuming more whole grains in their diet and less processed food,” said Linda Malcolmson of the Canadian International Grains Institute.
Barley comes with the added cache of being an ancient grain, another plus among those looking for a back to basics diet.
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Hulled and hulless barley can be used, but the hull must be removed for milling, she told the Alberta Barley Commission’s annual meeting in Banff Dec. 7.
“With the hulless varieties, we can produce higher levels of beta glucan,” she said.
Beta glucan is a soluble fibre with a proven connection to reducing cholesterol and lowering the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. High levels of fibre also give a feeling of fullness, which helps with weight management.
The Canadian health claim says the food must contain at least one gram of beta glucan per serving. The U.S. standard is slightly lower.
The food processing centre at Leduc, Alta., is developing baked products using barley. The results went beyond the traditional pot or pearled barley found in soups and stews.
Beta glucan is sticky, so recipes were blended. It also holds more water, so a proper balance is needed to avoid spoilage.
The results included pasta containing 25 percent whole grain barley and 75 percent semolina. It provided one gram of soluble fibre and five grams of total dietary fibre.
They also produced bagels with 30 percent barley, tortillas and pita breads with 50 percent barley flour, as well as a 100 percent barley breakfast cereal and snack products.
Pizza crusts, crackers and bread were also made. All provided adequate fibre.
The centre also made a 30 percent whole grain barley bread, but it was harder to achieve the soluble fibre claim because there was only half a gram of fibre per serving.
Researchers also learned that taste and fibre content depended on the variety.
CDC McGwire produced 1.2 grams of soluble fibre in one cup serving while CDC Fibar had 2.1 grams of fibre.
While the food side appears promising, barley growers must meet other challenges.
Canola is replacing barley acres. Prairie farmers grew 12 million tonnes of barley four years ago, but that dropped to nine million tonnes this year, and much of that will go to feed livestock.
Food grade varieties also yield less, said Greg Stamp, a barley grower and certified seed producer from Enchant, Alta. As a seed supplier, he has learned larger farms want the most potentially successful crops to grow on more acres.
“As farms grow larger, they want to go simpler. They want things streamlined,” he said.
He sees greater opportunity for barley among small- and medium-sized farms willing to take the time to grow specialized crops, providing they are rewarded.
“If food barley is lower yielding, it has to be valuable enough that it competes with the higher yielding varieties,” he said.
For more information, visit www.canadianfoodbarley.ca.
