Value-added Food Uses

Canadian yellow mustard is a highly sought-after commodity that is marketed around the world. However, to remain competitive, the Canadian mustard industry needs to respond to growing competition from other crops and to changing consumer preferences. This involves positioning mustard beyond its traditional food uses as a condiment ingredient, flavour enhancer, and emulsifying and binding agent.

Yellow mustard (Sinapis alba) seed is a rich and inexpensive source of protein, polysaccharide gum and oil – all components that are valuable to the food industry.

A research project through the Diverse Field Crops Cluster investigated yellow mustard seed proteins, dietary fibres and gums, and explored their characteristics and functionalities for food applications. Janitha Wanasundara, with AAFC Saskatoon, was lead researcher on the project conducted by AAFC scientists.

“Ground yellow mustard is primarily used as a condiment but also in food processing because of its protein, and oil and mucilage content that make it a good binding agent,” says Wanasundara. “Because of the high protein content and consumer’s drive for plant-based proteins, we needed to characterize the types of protein available in the mustard seed and understand how to cleanly extract it and use it in food applications.”

One noteworthy finding was that mustard protein has a great deal of potential as a supplementary protein source. Mustard proteins were compared to proteins found in peas, soybeans and milk. Wanasundara and collaborators found that mustard protein possess key functional properties required for oil emulsification, foam formation and fat holding capacity required for plant protein ingredient market options.

Researchers identified ways to extract yellow mustard gums from the whole seeds and the separated seed coat, which increases processing opportunities.

Additionally, mustard protein contains one of the essential (and often most limiting) sulfur containing amino acids that are needed to make up a complete dietary protein. This makes mustard protein a valuable additive to other plant protein blends that are deficient in this group of amino acids.

Steve Cui, a researcher at AAFC-Guelph, identified ways to extract yellow mustard gums from the whole seeds and the
separated seed coat, which increases processing opportunities. Like xanthan gum, polysaccharide-rich, low protein yellow mustard gums have high viscosity, sheer-thinning properties, and high emulsifying and foaming properties with strong ability to stabilize the foods to which it is added. Applications include foods, such as salad dressings, mayonnaise-type products and other recipes that require a shelf stable formula, as well as industrial uses.

As most of their initial work was done at the lab level, a variety of fractionation methods were then tested to determine the best way to extract the different components on a larger scale. A key driver in this research was focusing on environmental sustainability and cost efficiency to remove barriers for processors looking to build mustard fractionation facilities.

“Being able to provide the ingredient processing industry with an efficient and sustainable blueprint for fractionating mustard into its components, based on their functions, will increase uptake and grow those markets faster,” says Lamia L’Hocine with AAFC-Sainte-Hyacinthe, a project partner for the research.

Wanasundara supports L’Hocine’s conclusions.

“Increasing the scientific and technological understanding of mustard components is the best way to extend the product value chain for the mustard industry,” these researchers say. “Yellow mustard is an untapped source of nutritional material with tremendous potential.”

This DFCC research activity is led by Mustard 21 Canada Inc. with funding support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership program, Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission, Canadian Mustard Association and the Government of Saskatchewan.