Healthier and longer lasting pita bread may be the outcome of barley research underway at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus.
Researchers in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine have been investigating different varieties of barley to find ones that have higher levels of Vitamin E and other antioxidants at harvest and after storage.
They are then making pita bread with different combinations of malt, wholegrains and flour (all made from promising barley varieties) to see if they can produce pita bread with higher antioxidants, making them healthier and prolonging their storage capacity.
“Barley has historically been used for malt and livestock feed,” says Professor Amanda Able, University of Adelaide Professor of Plant Science.
“Recently, however, there has been growing interest in the use of barley in human foods largely due to its high content of fibre, beta-glucan and antioxidants.
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“Malt and food products containing antioxidants have the additional benefit of lasting longer on the supermarket shelf. And, while antioxidants can be easily destroyed by light, water and heat, we’ve found barley varieties that not only start with higher levels of antioxidants but the levels remain stable during storage before processing.”
Other research will look at genetic sequencing of the barley to see which genes are responsible for the antioxidant and Vitamin E levels for future breeding programs.
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