Project Details
Description
Horse parsley (Smyrnium olusatrum), also known as Alexanders, grows wild in UK coastal areas. It produces oilseeds containing ~22% triglyceride oil rich in petroselenic acid (PSA), an isomer of oleic acid. PSA has a number of applications in the cosmetics area. PSA and its triglyceride have unique physicochemical
properties (melting points about 30°C compared to 5°C for oleic acid)making the Alexanders seed oil (ASO) a potentially highly valuable food ingredient to replace butter and other solid fats to create low saturated fat, dairy free products. ASO also contains various functional ingredients that have nutraceutical benefits.
Alexanders was cultivated historically, but is not currently commercially grown. Collaborating with Naturiol Ltd. and using seed material from wild harvesting and early agronomy trials, the project aims to produce refined ASO and test its feasibility in food applications such as bakery products, margarine-type products
and ice-creams.
The project also aims to establish the regulatory status of ASO as a novel food ingredient and through gap analysis, generate initial data and scope a pathway supportive of a regulatory application.
Successful delivery of the project will provide a foundation for the development of an underexploited native UK oilseed crop as a healthy food source.
properties (melting points about 30°C compared to 5°C for oleic acid)making the Alexanders seed oil (ASO) a potentially highly valuable food ingredient to replace butter and other solid fats to create low saturated fat, dairy free products. ASO also contains various functional ingredients that have nutraceutical benefits.
Alexanders was cultivated historically, but is not currently commercially grown. Collaborating with Naturiol Ltd. and using seed material from wild harvesting and early agronomy trials, the project aims to produce refined ASO and test its feasibility in food applications such as bakery products, margarine-type products
and ice-creams.
The project also aims to establish the regulatory status of ASO as a novel food ingredient and through gap analysis, generate initial data and scope a pathway supportive of a regulatory application.
Successful delivery of the project will provide a foundation for the development of an underexploited native UK oilseed crop as a healthy food source.
| Short title | Alexanders seed oil project |
|---|---|
| Status | Finished |
| Effective start/end date | 1/05/19 → 30/04/20 |
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