Summary

This project showed Australian-grown oats can be used to produce a spoonable, fermented snack that is dairy-free, has minimal food additives (clean-label) and is appealing to consumers. Oat lipid content, fibre levels and heat treatment were critical to product quality. Low-lipid oats produced firmer textures, and kilning was essential to prevent rancidity. Consumers strongly preferred flavoured products and adding oat bran improved texture stability and shelf life. The work highlights new opportunities to add value to oats and supports opportunities to diversify the market for Australian oats beyond breakfast and baking products.

Background

Demand for plant-based, dairy-free foods is growing, driven by health, sustainability and clean-label preferences. Oats are well positioned to meet this demand due to their fibre content and nutritional profile. However, most oat products remain limited to breakfast foods. Expanding oats into new food categories could increase demand and improve returns for growers.

Fermented foods offer benefits such as extended shelf life and improved sensory qualities, but oats behave differently to dairy during fermentation. Understanding how oat variety, lipid content, fibre and processing affect product quality is essential for development of commercially viable oat-based products.

Research Aims

The core objectives of the project were to:

• Develop a healthy, fibre-enriched fermented oat snack using oat flour and bran with a clean-label (minimal food additives) formulation
• Understand how oat lipid levels and heat treatment influence flavour, texture and shelf life of oat products
• Assess the role of oat fibre and β-glucan in improving texture, stability and consumer acceptance of oat products.

In The Field

Seven oat varieties from the SARDI pre-breeding program, with lipid levels ranging from 6 to 10 per cent, were assessed alongside commercial oat flour. Oats were dehulled, kilned and milled before being used to produce fermented products.

Kilning was developed and tested as a heat treatment to reduce the activity of lipase that causes rancidity. Flavoured and unflavoured fermented oat products were made using commercial lactic acid bacteria cultures and stored under refrigeration for up to 28 days.

Texture, viscosity, pH, water separation, microbiological stability and sensory performance were measured. Seventy people who regularly consumed plant-based yoghurt products were recruited for a consumer testing panel. Panellists rated the appearance, aroma, flavour, texture, aftertaste and overall liking of each product.

Results

A highly palatable, clean-label, fermented oat snack was produced using a small number of ingredients. Successful fermentation was achieved with all oat varieties, with the pH dropping from 6.3 to about 4.2, confirming fermentation worked reliably in an oat base. However, clear differences emerged between oat types and processing approaches.

Lipid content strongly influenced texture. Low-lipid varieties (e.g. Yallara, Koorabup) produced firmer, more spoonable products with better structure, while high-lipid varieties (e.g. Bannister) formed weaker gels and thinner textures under the same processing conditions. High β-glucan varieties (e.g. Bilby and 19081-38) recorded better thickening compared to lower β-glucan varieties. This explains why oat variety selection matters for value-added food markets.

Kilning was essential to reduce rancidity and improve shelf life, reducing lipase activity by up to 82 per cent, in line with commercial oat flour. Even oat varieties with naturally lower lipid contents developed rancid flavours if lipase enzymes were not inactivated by heat. Some varieties retained slightly higher enzyme activity and kilning conditions may need adjustment depending on the oat variety.

Fibre also played a key role in product stability. Adding oat bran significantly improved the water-holding capacity of the product which reduced weeping and liquid separation during storage. Products with bran maintained a gel-like texture for 28 days, while those without bran became runny and separated.

Consumer testing showed flavour was critical to acceptance. Unflavoured products scored poorly, while blueberry-flavoured products achieved high scores for aroma, flavour, texture and overall appeal. A standard yoghurt starter culture performed better than combinations including additional lactic acid bacteria.

No growth of mould or yeast was detected during 28 days of refrigerated storage demonstrating the safety and shelf-life stability of the product.