The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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466 - ‘Anti-inflammatory and immunological effects of Centaurea cyanus flower-heads’. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 68(1-3):235-41

Reference Number: 466

Year: 1999

Authors: N Garbacki, V Gloaguen, J Damas, P Bodart, M Tits, L Angenot

Link: Link to original paper

Health: Inflammation | Lower Inflammation

Nutrition: Anthocyanins | Antioxidants | Carbohydrates | Polyphenols

Inclusions: Edible flowers

Summary

Centaurea cyanus flower-heads are used in European phytotherapy for the treatment of minor ocular inflammations. Different pharmacological experiments (inhibition of carrageenan, zymosan and croton oil-induced oedemas, inhibition of plasma haemolytic activity, induction of anaphylatoxin activity) showed that polysaccharides extracted from C. cyanus flower-heads had anti-inflammatory properties and interfered with complement. Moreover, these polysaccharides were found to be mainly composed of galacturonic acid, arabinose, glucose, rhamnose and galactose.

Significance of this study to the baker:

This study looks at the potential health benefits of Cornflowers. We add this edible flower into our botanical blends, not only for these benefits but also to improve diversity to support our gut microbiome.

Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) are native to the UK and once grew vigorously through our corn crops. When farmers however began using herbicides, they started to disappear and are now rare in the wild. They are easy to grow, flowering all summer. These flowers are electric blue in colour due to their levels of anthocyanins (polyphenols) and not only give a wonderful colour to the countryside but also hold antioxidant potential. This study finds that the further polysaccharide content of the flower has been found to contain the bioactive ingredients to exert health benefits such as anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. Although there is no human evidence to suggest these health properties directly from the Cornflower at this stage, laboratory based studies find the flower to promote these fundamental health boosting properties.

Take a look at our courses at The Sourdough School

All reasonable care is taken when advising about health aspects of bread, but the information that we share is not intended to take the place of treatment by a qualified medical practitioner. You must seek professional advice if you are in any doubt about any medical condition. Any application of the ideas and information contained on this website is at the reader's sole discretion and risk.

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