Plant-based beta-glucans can add dietary fibre and heart health benefits to successful snacks with approved health claims. But how do they work in practice? The vast majority of consumers around the world recognise the link between heart health and overall health. 7 in 10 European consumers, for instance, are interested in products that promote heart health, even when they are not suffering specific health problems.

So being able to offer snacks that have approved health claims in this area is an attractive proposition for manufacturers.

Incorporating beta-glucans from barley into recipes is an easy and affordable way to achieve this. Barley beta-glucans are viscous, soluble, fermentable dietary fibres with scientifically proven benefits for heart health, while also allowing for fibre enrichment and corresponding claims.

Beta-glucans generate a high viscosity, which makes the food thicker and slows its passage through the gastro-intestinal tract. This delays the uptake of glucose from food, lowering the blood glucose response. In addition, the high viscosity lowers the uptake of bile acids and thereby reduces blood cholesterol concentration, helping to cut the risk of coronary heart disease.

When it comes to snacks enriched with these functional ingredients, there are benefits for producers as well as for consumers. There are more than 120 scientific studies demonstrating the health effects of beta-glucans from cereals, and official bodies including EFSA, the FDA, and Health Canada have approved corresponding health claims. The Beneo-Technology Center developed, for example, a recipe for multigrain cookies with beta-glucans that can carry high fibre and EU health claims, like “Barley beta-glucan has been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol. High cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease.” This claim can be used for foods that provide at least 1 g of barley beta-glucan per quantified portion, which can be easily fulfilled with the cookie recipe. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 3 g barley beta-glucan. The cookies also have a great taste and a crunchy texture.”

As a leading producer of functional ingredients, Beneo offers barley beta-glucans in the form of Orafti® β-Fit, a clean label, non-GMO, vegan-friendly wholegrain barley flour with a beta-glucan content of 20 % on dry matter. Orafti® β-Fit can be used in a wide variety of snacks, including baked goods like muffins, cookies, cakes and biscuits as well as extruded cereals. It can also serve as a clean label texturiser – for example in dairy and dairy alternatives.

Dr Isabel Trogh, Customer Technical Support Manager at Beneo, explains: “Orafti® β-Fit is a cost-effective ingredient that offers technical advantages alongside health benefits for consumers. As well as having a neutral colour and taste, it is pH and temperature stable. When reformulating recipes with Orafti® β-Fit, in some cases, small adjustments like adding a bit more water might be necessary. But most applications, including the multigrain cookie here, allow for a simple 1:1 replacement of the original flour ingredient, e.g. wheat flour, with our wholegrain beta-glucan rich barley flour.”