Finnish researchers develop export-ready gluten-free oat bread

Researchers at LAB University of Applied Sciences are developing a gluten-free oat bread that could strengthen Finland’s food exports, Yle reports. The bread is designed to be suitable for people with coeliac disease while avoiding the dryness commonly associated with gluten-free products.

Finland’s government aims to double the country’s food exports by 2031. LAB is developing grain products and production methods that could support that goal, with gluten-free oat bread identified as one promising product.

Researcher Saara Sammalisto is studying how to make gluten-free oat bread light and moist. She holds a doctorate in oat baking from the University of Helsinki and has continued her research at LAB’s test bakery and product development facilities.

The method relies on fibres known as hydrocolloids, which bind water. These include psyllium husk and beta-glucan, a substance naturally found in oats.

Sammalisto found during her doctoral research that beta-glucan extracted from oats works well as a hydrocolloid in gluten-free oat baking. Without hydrocolloids, gluten-free dough can be very loose and lose its air, producing flat loaves that may not even retain the shape of bread, she said.

The quality and variety of oats can also significantly affect the properties of the dough and bread, in some cases more than the hydrocolloids themselves.

Sammalisto expects demand for oats in baking to grow internationally because of their health benefits, including among people who do not have coeliac disease. She said Finland is a pioneer in using controlled raw materials in oat baking and has high-quality research in the field.

Developing more valuable grain products

The research is being conducted at a test bakery that is part of LAB’s Food Pilot Plant, a food product development centre serving the university’s researchers and companies. The facilities also include a small distillery for beverage research.

The product development facilities opened about two years ago. Their purpose is to find ways to increase the level of food processing and improve productivity in the sector. This includes developing products that are close to being ready for consumers.

Oats are one example. Finland is one of the world’s significant oat-producing countries, but most Finnish oats are exported as whole grains.

“If we can process oats further, their added value will naturally increase,” said Pasi Raja, a research, development and innovation specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences.

Raja said food cleanliness alone was not enough to make Finnish food exports competitive. He pointed to Salpausselkä’s clean groundwater as an attraction for companies elsewhere in Europe and said that combining it with Finnish technological expertise could create new export opportunities.

He suggested that companies from southern Europe could move production to Finland if water became scarce in their home countries, creating additional value for Finland.

Expertise rather than bulk exports

The export of Finnish food expertise is a relatively new phenomenon, and its full scale has not yet been mapped. However, there are already promising examples.

One is Baron Foodtech, a Lahti-based bakery consultancy that advises companies on business operations, production facilities and product development. Ninety percent of the company’s turnover comes from exports, and its test kitchen is located at LAB’s product development centre.

The company is currently helping to build an industrial-scale sourdough bakery in the United States.