A large part is animal feed, but rye bran also appears in bread and on our porridge plates. Many people probably do not know that bran is the name of the parts of the grain that are not extracted into flour (which is found in the kernel) – that is, the seed coat and sprout. With a fiber content of 48 percent and 18 percent protein, the residual product is a healthy food, but few would like to have rye bran in their cheesecakes probably.

However, alternative snacks with a higher fiber content are already on the shelves in the store, and now the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland has developed a modified version of rye bran that can be hidden in snacks and thus make them healthier. It writes the University of Helsinki on its website.

The researchers have aimed at the snacks that are made from a lot, for example cheese arches. They must be able to be pushed out of the machine with the same ease as the usual mixture. The fiber content makes the bran hard, and to give it a more pleasant consistency, VTT has tried to reduce the particle size.

Does not adversely affect the taste

Fermentation with exopolysaccharides, for example sugar polymer such as dextran, has also been used. It created lactic acid bacteria which gave a clear improvement. The university managed to produce snacks that had a crispy and porous texture. According to the researchers, you can mix in up to 40 percent of their rye bran without it affecting the taste or consistency negatively.

– The results of this study significantly increase the potential for rye bran to be used in food production, which in the long run will help reduce obesity and chronic diseases among a rapidly growing population. The findings of the study will also benefit the food industry by giving them an understanding of the relationship between process structure and physical functionality, which is very important when designing new, healthy and high-fiber foods, says Syed Ariful Alam. who will soon defend his doctoral dissertation at the university.