Semolina bread, a staple of the Mediterranean diet, has a low protein content and is low in fibre, and, in the context of a growing focus on functional nutrition, there is a need to improve its nutritional value.

The aim of a recent study conducted by a team of Italian researchers (Troilo et al., 2025) was to evaluate the use of semi-wholemeal semolina, Manitoba flour and yellow lentil protein fraction (FPLG) (replacing flour at a ratio of 10% to 40% w/w) in the formulation of rolls, analysing the effects on their nutritional, chemical, technological and sensory properties.

The results show that semolina provides a fibre content sufficient to meet the ‘source of fibre’ claim, while the addition of the fractionated protein isolate leads to a progressive increase in protein content, enabling labelling as a ‘source of protein’ or ‘high-protein’ product, compared to the control samples.