FLAX FOR HUMAN WELLBEING Dr. Z. Jankauskienė Upytė Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Lithuania
Flax was already grown 6000-8000 years ago in Egypt and Sumaria, and belongs (together with barley and wheat) to the oldest of cultivated plants. The distribution of flax from the Near East into Europe is well documented. It is considered that flax cultivation in Western Europe (the Netherlands, Northern France, Belgium and Switzerland) started about 5000-3000 BC when semi-nomads, originating from the Middle East, settled in Flanders and introduced flax cultivation.
Sometime between 4000 and 2000 BC, flax cultivation became a common practice in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and in regions of the Middle East, and there is some evidence that flax cultivation may have started even thousands of years earlier, during the Neolithic Era of approximately 10,000 BC. From the very beginning, the value of flax was both culinary and domestic, since flax fibers could be spun into linen to provide clothing and other textile-related products.
Since the domestication of flax, there has been a preference for growing flax either for its fiber or oil. The dual purpose of flax was already known in ancient times. In ancient Egypt, linen (derived from the fiber) was used for closes, wrapping the royal mummies and additionally linseed oil was used to embalm the bodies of deceased Pharaohs.
For a long time flax has been cultivated as a dual-purpose crop, but nowadays fiber flax and linseed represent different gene pools. Due to selective breeding two distinguishable cultivar groups have been developed and are grown as different crops, fiber flax and linseed. But both flax and linseed can be considered the multi-purpose crops, as the possibility to produce different products of them range very widely. They can be used for human wellbeing, decoration of our surrounding, everyday life.
The Linaceae family comprises of 22 genera of which genus Linum is the most wellknown. The more than 200 species present in the genus Linum are divided in five subsections (Linum, Dasylinum, Linastrum, Syllinum and Cathartolinum). Only some species from the section Linum are used for agronomical purposes. Where Linum grandiflorum Desf. and L. perenne L. serve as ornamentals, cultivated flax (L. usitatissimum) is commercially grown for its fiber and seeds, linseed oil.
Linum usitatissimum L. cultivated flax could be: Flax and linseed; Winter or spring type. While L. usitatissimum is an annual crop species, the wild forms can also be: biannual or perennial
I fibre flax II - III - intermediate IV - linseed
Flax could be used as: Flowers Seeds Stems Capsules Fibre (long and short, yarns, fabrics, etc.) Shives Chaff
Human wellbeing: What we are eating; What we are wearing; What is surrounding us.
Flowers
Linum grandiflorum Desf., Linum perenne L. and Linum flavum L. serve as ornamentals.
Seeds
Seeds as food, feed and medicine
Health benefits of flax seed Flax seeds are one of the very high-calorie foods. 100 g of seeds contain 534 calories or 27% of dailyrequired levels. The seeds are an excellent source of numerous healthbenefiting nutrients, dietary fiber (mucilage), minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.
Flax seeds (Linum usitatissimum) Nutritional value per 100 g Principle Nutrient Value Energy 534 Kcal 27% Carbohydrates 28.8 g 22% Protein 18.3 g 32.5% Total Fat 42.16 g 170% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Dietary Fiber 27.3 g 68% Minerals Calcium 255 mg 22.5% Percentage of RDA Vitamins Folates 87 µg 22% Niacin 3.08 mg 19% Pantothenic acid 0.985 mg 20% Pyridoxine 0.473 mg 36% Riboflavin 0.161 mg 12% Thiamin 1.64 mg 137% Vitamin A 0 IU 0% Vitamin C 0.6 mg 1% Vitamin E 19.95 mg 133% Vitamin K 4.3 µg 3.5% Copper 1.12 mg 124% Iron 5.73 mg 72% Magnesium 392 mg 98% Manganese 2.48 mg 108% Zinc 4.34 mg 39% (Source: USDA National Nutrient database)
Flax seed is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid. It is also one of the top plant sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and arachidonic acids. Regular intake of small portions of flax seeds in the diet helps to lower total as well as LDL or bad cholesterol and increases HDL or good cholesterol levels in the blood. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet that is rich in fiber, monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids help to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
Flax seeds are perhaps one of the most widely available botanical sources of n 3 or ω (omega)-3 fatty acids. Flax seed oil consists of approximately 55% ALA (αlinolenic acid). One spoonful of flax seed oil provides about 8 g of omega-3 fatty acids. Research studies have suggested that n-3 fatty acids by their virtue of antiinflammatory action help lower the risk of blood pressure, coronary artery disease, strokes and breast, colon and prostate cancers. Adequate quantities of n-3 oils are required for normal infant development and maturation of nervous system.
The seeds contain lignans, a class of phytoestrogens considered to have antioxidant and cancer preventing properties. Flax are an excellent source of vitamin E, especially rich in gamma-tocopherol; containing about 20 g (133% of dailyrecommended values) per 100 g. vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant, required for maintaining the integrity of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin by protecting it from harmful oxygen-free radicals.
Already in XV century oil extracted from flax seeds was used for painting. For many years, the first use of oil paint was attributed to the Flemish artist Jan van Eyck. He tested many species of oil and decided that linseed oil was the best, so it was incorporated in the content of oil paints. Linseed oil tends to dry faster and, in the process, forms a more flexible paint film that can be reworked more easily. Very soon such oil paints became a necessary tool for everyone painter. Moreover, linen was used as a canvas for painting.
Flax stems, capsules
Long fibre Short fibre Yarns and fabrics (different types) are produced from long flax fibre. The rough fabrics, non-wovens, string, ropes, isolation or geotextile materials, biocomposites could be produces from short flax fibre.
Yarns, fabrics
Bath products, bath care products (soup, shampoo), flax rubbing towels.
Beach slippers or shoes Umbrella against the sun Flax ice silk car seat cushions
Accessories
Shives
Thank you for attention!