Development of different types of psyllium-enriched bread as part of a cholersterol-lowering diet

Psyllium seed husks derived from Plantago ovata are a concentrated source o f dietary fiber and contain similar to 85% total dietary fiber and similar to 71% soluble fiber, respectively. In the USA psyllium is well recognized for its cholesterol-lowering effect and has already been added to some food products such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. Moreover, the Food and dr ug Administration FDA has ruled that certain foods containing soluble fiber from psyllium can make a health claim in respect to reducing the risk of c oronary heart disease. In Germany the cholesterol-lowering potential of psy llium is not yet appreciated. The objective of the present study was to dev elop different types of psyllium supplemented breads, e.g, wheat bread, rye bread and mixed grain breads, it was aimed that 3-4 slices of bread should contain 10-15 g and therefore 15% of the flour was substituted with psylli um. Human studies have demonstrated that the daily consumption of 10-15 g p syllium will produce a significant hypocholesterolemic effect. The high viscosity of psyllium affected the dough preparation and baking pr ocess, therefore customary recipes needed to be modified. Especially the am ount of water added to the dough needed to be increased. Due to the increas ed amount of water that was added to the dough the freshness of the breads was increased but the tendency to bread mould was shortened. After modifyin g the recipes and the baking process it was possible to bake a psyllium-sup plemented wheat bread as well as two types of mixed wheat and rye breads wh ich did not differ from the characteristic of regular breads. Baking tests to make a whole meal rye bread however were not satisfactory because of a n umber of problems that occurred during the baking process, in a sensory tes t the psyllium-breads were evaluated as good tasting and as palatable as th e conventional control breads. However, there was a particular sandy taste of the psyllium-breads. In conclusion, after modifying the recipes it was p ossible to bake palatable psyllium-enriched breads with a comparable qualit y of regular breads. Since bread is a staple food in people's diet, the dai ly consumption of 3-4 slices containing 10-15 g psyllium could easily be in corporated into a cholesterol-lowering dietary therapy or could help to pre vent hyperlipidemia.