ABSTRACT
F l a x has been used for human consumption for over five thousand years. The common flax plant (Linum usitatissimum) is a member of a small family, the Linaceae, which includes about a dozen genera and some 150 species that are widely distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the world [1]. The seed of the flax plant is known as linseed or flaxseed. Historically, the flax crop has produced oil from the seed (known as linseed oil) and fiber from the stem. The ex-Soviet Union was the most important pro ducer of fiber-type flax (65-70% of world production), whereas Canada is the largest producer and exporter of oil-type flaxseed. The Canadian share of the world flaxseed production is about 31-35% [1]. The production of flaxseed has declined in the last twenty years in North America due to decreased de mand for linseed oil in the painting industry [2]. Extensive research has been carried out during the last 1 0 years to explore other uses of flaxseed, par ticularly food uses [2]. Flaxseed mainly contains oil (42%), protein (30%), soluble and insoluble dietary fiber (9% and 20%, respectively) and anticarcinogenic lignans (0.3%) [3,4]. The properties and applications of flaxseed oil, protein and lignans are described elsewhere [2,3,5-7]. The focus of the present chapter is on the soluble fiber portion of flaxseed: the most recent advances in
extraction processes, chemical structure, functional properties and applications of flaxseed gum.
