Fortification of Chinese steamed bread with flaxseed flour and evaluation of its physicochemical and sensory properties

Flaxseed is a popular functional food ingredient that is widely used in various snack foods. In this study, we developed a Chinese steamed bread (CSB) enriched with flaxseed flour. We evaluated the relative nutritional quality of flours made from distinct parts of flaxseeds, and we investigated the effects of adding various amounts of flaxseed flour on the edible acceptance and nutritional quality of CSB. The results showed that with increased flaxseed flour, the crust and core of CSB became darker, hardness and chewiness increased, cohesiveness and springiness changed slightly, the essential amino acid and resistant starch (RS) content increased significantly. Chemical analysis indicated that the major volatile compounds of CSB were alcohols and nitrogen-containing compounds. The RS ranged from 34.89 +/- 0.80 to 54.64 +/- 0.23%. The antioxidant capacity increased nearly three-fold. In summary, our study showed that the addition of 10% flaxseed flour yielded CSB with increased nutritional value and popular edible acceptance.