Flaxseed oil: Extraction, health benefits and products

Flaxseed is rich in ?-linolenic acid (ALA), lignans, proteins and dietary fibers, which has been considered as an important food ingredient. As one of most functional ingredients in flaxseed, flaxseed oil could provide many potential health benefits, such as cardiovascular protection, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, live protection, diabetes treatment, etc. Besides mechanical pressing and solvent extraction for flaxseed oil, various new extraction processes, for example, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical CO2 extraction, subcritical extraction, three-phase partitioning, enzyme-assisted three-phase partitioning, etc., have been investigated. Currently, flaxseed oil has been incorporated into some regular food formulations including liquid or solid powder drink, meat products, baking foods, etc. However, due to high ALA in flaxseed oil, it is a great challenge for the development of flaxseed-oil based products. In present paper, the latest development of the extraction of flaxseed oil, the potential benefits of flaxseed oil, and flaxseed oil-based foods, were reviewed. Regarding the studies of flaxseed oil in our group was also highlighted.