FLAT BREAD MINE

There are many types of flatbread, including Italian (Borlengo, Focaccia, Torta, Pizza, Piadina, Pane Carasau, Tigella), Maltese (Ftira), Greek (Lagana, Pita, Perek), Croatian (Lepinja), Jordanian (shrak, taboon, abud, ka'ak, zaatar) and Egyptian (Baladi).

Most manufacturers now include flatbreads in their range.

They are often made using wholemeal flours, highly hydrated doughs and sourdough fermentation, all of which help to release the minerals present in the phytic acid.

The fact that they are cooked very quickly reduces their glycaemic index. So this is a potentially interesting product from a nutritional point of view.

‘FLAT BREAD MINE’ has two meanings, which can be understood as two ambitions:

• it aims to establish a MINE (source) of information to develop healthier and safer Flat Bread (dissemination ambition)

• it also aims to customise the formulation to adapt the ‘FB MINE’ to each consumer, to obtain foods that are nutritionally enriched, gluten-free, sustainable or practical (impact ambition).

The project aims to re-explore and optimise the potential of flat bread, in terms of kneading and baking processes, nutritional properties and quality, with the concomitant development of standard methods for this type of bread, considering both conventional (with gluten) and gluten-free formulations, with an emphasis on ‘organic’ formulations.

Numerous avenues for nutritional improvement will be explored.

• Project duration: 2021-2025

• Coordination: Patricia Le Bail (BIA Unit - ISD Team)

• Partners:
  • 10 academic partners :
  • INRAE - France
  • ONIRIS - France
  • CSIC- IATA, Spain
  • Univ Bari (UBA) - Italy
  • SFC Scientific Food Center - Jordan
  • Univ Zagreb (PBF) - Croatia
  • Univ Malta (UM) - Malta
  • Univ St Joseph (USJ) - Lebanon
  • Int. Hellenic Univ (IHU) - Greece
  • FTRI - Egypt

• 8 industrial partners:
  • BIMBO - Industrial Bakery, Spain
  • MATARESSE - Technical Centre, Italy
  • KROJIKA - SME Bakery, Croatia
  • Crown Flour Mills - Milling company, Lebanon
  • YECH'HED Malt - Organic malt, France
  • RAMALHOS - Baking ovens, Portugal
  • MSA-Project follow-up, Malta
  • VMI-Petrins, France

• Total budget: €2.1m