Trends and advances in pre- and post-harvest processing of linseed oil for quality food and health products

Abstract

Linseed is an ancient crop used for diverse purposes since the beginning of civilization. In recent times, linseed has emerged as a superfood due to its high content of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids and other bioactive compounds. Among primary health effects, it has potential to manage hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis, neurological, cardiovascular diseases including blood cholesterol levels, constipation, diarrhea, and autoimmune disorders etc. due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acid, lignans, high dietary fibers, and proteins, whereas, secondary health effects comprise of relieving from various skin disorders. Due to these health-beneficial properties, interest in linseed oil necessitates the intensification of research efforts on various aspects. These include cultivation technology, varietal and genetic improvement, post-harvest processing, profiling of nutrients and bioactive compounds, pre-clinical and clinical studies, etc. The present review discussed the advances in linseed research including pre- and post-harvest processing. However, focus on the bioactive compounds present in linseed oil and their health effects are also presented. Linseed cultivation, pre- and post-harvest processing aspects are covered including climatic, edaphic, agronomic factors, type of cultivar and storage conditions etc, which impact the overall oil yield and its nutritional quality. Various emerging applications of linseed oil in functional food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical preparations were also presented in detail. Further, recommendations were made on linseed oil research in the field of genetics, breeding germplasm resources and genome editing for exploring its full applications as a nutrition and health product.

Keywords:

• Linseed
• bioactive compounds
• health-promoting properties
• functional food
• nutraceutical

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to ICAR and DBT for providing motivation and support. We are thankful to Dr. Rakesh Choudhary, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, India for providing the linseed crop photographs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.