Durum

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This article is about the cultivar of wheat. For the Turkish döner wrap, see dürüm.

Durum

Durum wheat

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Monocots

Clade: Commelinids

Order: Poales

Family: Poaceae

Subfamily: Pooideae

Genus: Triticum
 Species: T. durum

Binomial name

Triticum durum

Desf.

Synonyms[1]

List[show]

Durum wheat[2] (/ˈdjʊərəm/), also called pasta wheat[3] or macaroni wheat (Triticum

durum or Triticum turgidum subsp. durum),[4] is a tetraploid species of wheat.[5] It is the second most
cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represents only 5% to 8% of global
wheat production.[6] It was developed by artificial selection of the domesticated emmer wheat strains
formerly grown in Central Europe and the Near East around 7000 BC, which developed a
naked, free-threshing form.[7] Like emmer, durum wheat is awned (with bristles). It is the predominant
wheat that grows in the Middle East.
Durum in Latin means "hard", and the species is the hardest of all wheats. This refers to the
resistance of the grain to milling, in particular of the starchy endosperm, implying dough made from
its flour is weak or "soft". This makes durum favorable for semolina and pasta and less practical for
flour, which requires more work than with hexaploid wheats like common bread wheats. Despite its
high protein content, durum is not a strong wheat in the sense of giving strength to dough through
the formation of a gluten network. Durum contains 27% extractable wet gluten, about 3% higher than
in common wheat (T. aestivum L.).[8]

Contents

 1Genealogy
 2Uses
 3Production
o 3.1Processing and protein content
 4Health concerns
 5References
 6Sources
 7Further reading
 8External links

Genealogy[edit]
Durum wheat is a tetraploid wheat, having 4 sets of chromosomes for a total of 28, unlike hard red
winter and hard red spring wheats, which are hexaploid (6 sets of chromosomes) for a total of 42
chromosomes each.[9]
Durum wheat originated through intergeneric hybridization and polyploidization involving
two diploid (having 2 sets of chromosomes) grass species: T. urartu (2n=2x=14, AA genome) and a
B-genome diploid related to Aegilops speltoides (2n=2x=14, SS genome)[10] and is thus
an allotetraploid (having 4 sets of chromosomes, from unlike parents) species.

Uses[edit]
Commercially produced dry pasta, or pasta secca, is made almost exclusively from durum semolina.
[11]
 Most home made fresh pastas (pasta fresca), such as orecchiette and tagliatelle, also use durum
wheat or a combination of soft and hard wheats.
Husked but unground, or coarsely ground, it is used to produce the semolina in the couscous of
North Africa and the Levant. It is also used for Levantine dishes such
as tabbouleh, kashk, kibbeh, bitfun and the bulgur for pilafs. In North African cuisine and Levantine
cuisine, it forms the basis of many soups, gruels, stuffings, puddings and pastries.[12] When ground
as fine as flour, it is used for making bread. In the Middle East, it is used for flat round breads, and in
Europe and elsewhere, it can be used for pizza or torte. Couscous is a Middle Eastern dish made
from small, boiled balls of durum wheat. [13] The Israeli variant of couscous involves larger pearls of
durum called ptitim in Hebrew.[14]
Durum flour and semolina are good for making pasta because they do not create doughs hard to
shape, e.g. into sheets. Technically, the dough is relatively plastic, contrasting with the strong elastic
doughs obtained from bread flours. Durum is rich in gluten but that is not readily available as the
endosperm is hard to break to release that gluten. Durum wheat is thus less used in breadmaking.
Its protein content is almost as high as that of hard spring or winter wheat and so is its gluten
content, necessary for bread to rise. Although 100 percent durum wheat breads do exist (such as
pagnotte di Enna or "rimacinato" bread from Sicily, as well as Altamura bread from Apulia and
Matera bread from Basilicata) in most instances bread doughs contain only a portion of durum wheat
and are supplemented substantially with commercial white flours, often those higher in gluten
necessary to offset the poor contribution of durum flour to the gluten network. Pure durum wheat
breads are often dense, containing little air bubbles, with relatively little elastic structure (continuum).
The uncooked dough splits easily and is easier to shape, as for instance to make pies or pastas.
The use of wheat to produce pasta was described as early as the 10th century by Ibn
Wahshīya of Cairo. The North Africans called the product itrīya, from which Italian sources derived
the term tria (or aletría in the case of Spanish sources) during the 15th century.[12]

Production[edit]
Most of the durum grown today is amber durum, the grains of which are amber-colored and larger
than those of other types of wheat. Durum has a yellow endosperm, which gives pasta its color.
When durum is milled, the endosperm is ground into a granular product called semolina. Semolina
made from durum is used for premium pastas and breads. There is also a red durum, used mostly
for livestock feed.
The cultivation of durum generates greater yield than other wheats in areas of low precipitation (3–
5 dm). Good yields can be obtained by irrigation, but this is rarely done. In the first half of the 20th
century, the crop was widely grown in Russia.[15] Durum is one of the most important food crops
in West Asia. Although the variety of the wheat there is diverse, it is not extensively grown there, and
thus must be imported.[16] West amber durum produced in Canada is used mostly as semolina/pasta,
but some is also exported to Italy for bread production.[17]
In the Middle East and North Africa, local bread-making accounts for half the consumption of durum.
Some flour is even imported. On the other hand, many countries in Europe produce durum in
commercially significant quantities.[18]
Production of wheat 2017/2018[19]

Producer Production (1000 metric tonnes)

 European Union 151.6

 China 129.7

 India 98.5

 Russia 84.9

 United States 47.3

 Canada 30.0

 Ukraine 26.9

 Pakistan 26.6

 Australia 21.5

 Turkey 21.0

Processing and protein content[edit]

Durum wheat is subject to four processes: cleaning, tempering, milling and purifying. First, durum
wheat is cleaned to remove foreign material and shrunken and broken kernels. Then it is tempered
to a moisture content, toughening the seed coat for efficient separation of bran and endosperm.
Durum milling is a complex procedure involving repetitive grinding and sieving. Proper purifying
results in maximum semolina yield and the least amount of bran powder.[20]
To produce bread, durum wheat is ground into flour. The flour is mixed with water to produce dough.
The quantities mixed vary, depending on the acidity of the mixture. The dough is mixed
with yeast and lukewarm water, and then fermented for hours.
The quality of the bread produced depends on the viscoelastic properties of gluten,
the protein content and protein composition.[8][18] Containing about 12% total protein in defattedflour
compared to 11% in common wheat, durum wheat yields 27% extractable, wet gluten compared to
24% in common wheat.[8]

Health concerns[edit]
Main article: Gluten-related disorders
Because durum wheat contains gluten,[8] it is unsuitable for people with gluten-related disorders such
as celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy.[21]

Powdered sugar
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Closeup of unsifted powdered sugar

Powdered sugar on cannoli

Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, icing sugar, and icing cake, is a finely

ground sugar produced by millinggranulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains a small
amount of anti-caking agent to prevent clumping and improve flow. Although most often produced in
a factory, powdered sugar can also be made by processing ordinary granulated sugar in a coffee
grinder, or by crushing it by hand in a mortar and pestle.
Powdered sugar is utilized in industrial food production when a quick-dissolving sugar is required.
Home cooks use it principally to make icing or frosting and other cake decorations. It is often dusted
onto baked goods to add a subtle sweetness and delicate decoration.
Powdered sugar is available in varying degrees of fineness, most commonly XXX, XXXX, and 10X:
the greater the number of Xs, the finer the particles. [1] Finer particles absorb more moisture, which
results in caking. Corn starch or tricalcium phosphate is added at 3 to 5% concentration to absorb
moisture and to improve flow by reducing friction between sugar crystals. [2][3] Because of these
anticaking agents, it cannot always be used as a substitute for granulated sugar.

Other varieties[edit]
Caster sugar (also referred to as superfine or baker's sugar) has a larger particle size than powdered
sugar, approximately half that of granulated sugar. [4] It is commonly used in baking and cold mixed
drinks because it dissolves faster than granulated white sugar. Caster sugar can be easily prepared
at home by grinding white sugar in a food processor to make it finer. The most common food caster
sugar is used in is meringue.
Snow powder (or snow sugar) is a non-melting form of icing sugar usually consisting
of dextrose, starch, and anti-binding agents, useful for retaining its structure when dusted onto cakes
or pastries that require refrigeration. It is mostly used for decorative purposes. It also
contains titanium dioxide which gives it a vibrant white colour. This sugar is used for visual appeal
without the sugar melting into the pastry from moisture. It is mostly used on baked goods that are
slightly wet like fruit bars and tarts. It will not melt even if it is sprinkled on whipped cream or ice
cream. Snow sugar is less sweet than regular powdered sugar because dextrose (a type of sugar
made when starchy plants are broken down into monosaccharides using enzymes) is around 20%
less sweet than regular sugar, owing to the fact that dextrose, being pure or nearly-pure glucose, is
absent the fructose (50% fructose, more precisely) that everyday sucrose "table sugar" / "cane
sugar" consists of, which would otherwise impart a stronger taste of sweetness. [5][6]

Bran
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For other uses, see Bran (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Chaff.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve

this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may
be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bran" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August
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 Wheat kernel compartments and macronutrients

Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the hard outer layers of cereal grain. It consists of the
combined aleurone and pericarp. Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often
produced as a byproduct of milling in the production of refined grains.
Bran is present in cereal grain, including rice, corn (maize), wheat, oats, barley, rye and millet. Bran
is not the same as chaff, which is a coarser scaly material surrounding the grain but not forming part
of the grain itself.

Contents

 1Composition
 2Rice bran
 3Uses
 4Brewing
 5Stability
 6See also
 7References

Composition[edit]
Bran is particularly rich in dietary fiber and essential fatty acids and contains significant quantities
of starch, protein, vitamins, and dietary minerals. It is also a source of phytic acid, an antinutrient that
prevents nutrient absorption.
The high oil content of bran makes it subject to rancidification, one of the reasons that it is often
separated from the grain before storage or further processing. Bran is often heat-treated to increase
its longevity.
 Nutrients (%) Wheat Rye Oat Rice Barley

Carbohydrates without
45–50 50–70 16–34 18–23 70–80
starch

Starch 13–18 12–15 18–45 18–30 8–11

Proteins 15–18 8–9 13–20 15–18 11–15

Fats 4–5 4–5 6–11 18–23 1–2

Rice bran[edit]
Rice bran is a byproduct of the rice milling process (the conversion of brown rice to white rice), and it
contains various antioxidants that impart beneficial effects on human health.[1] A major rice bran
fraction contains 12%–13% oil and highly unsaponifiable components (4.3%).[citation needed] This fraction
contains tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E), gamma-oryzanoland beta-sitosterol; all these constituents
may contribute to the lowering of the plasma levels of the various parameters of the lipid profile. Rice
bran also contains a high level of dietary fibres (beta-glucan, pectin and gum). It also contains ferulic
acid, which is also a component of the structure of nonlignified cell walls. However, some research
suggests there are levels of inorganic arsenic present in rice bran. One study found the levels to be
20% higher than in drinking water.[2]

Uses[edit]

Rice bran
Wheat bran

Oat bran

Bran is often used to enrich breads (notably muffins) and breakfast cereals, especially for the benefit
of those wishing to increase their intake of dietary fiber. Bran may also be used
for pickling (nukazuke) as in the tsukemono of Japan. Rice bran in particular finds many uses in
Japan, where it is known as nuka (糠; ぬか). Besides using it for pickling, Japanese people add it to
the water when boiling bamboo shoots, and use it for dish washing. In Kitakyushu City, it is
called jinda and used for stewing fish, such as sardine.
Rice bran is stuck to the surface of commercial ice blocks to prevent them from melting. Bran oil may
be also extracted for use by itself for industrial purposes (such as in the paint industry), or as
a cooking oil, such as rice bran oil.
Wheat bran is useful as feed for poultry and other livestock, as part of a balanced ration with other
inputs. Wheatings, a milling byproduct comprising mostly bran with some pieces of endosperm also
left over, are included in this category.
Bran was found to be the most successful slug deterrent by BBC's TV programme Gardeners'
World. It is a common substrate and food source used for feeder insects, such
as mealworms and waxworms. Wheat bran has also been used for tanning leather since at least the
16th century.[3]

Brewing[edit]
George Washington had a recipe for small beer involving bran, hops, and molasses.[4]

Stability[edit]
It is common practice to heat-treat bran with the intention of slowing undesirable rancidification.
However, a very detailed 2003 study of heat-treatment of oat bran found a complex pattern whereby
increasingly intense heat treatment reduced the development of hydrolitic rancidity and bitterness
with time, but increased oxidative rancidity. The authors recommended that heat treatment should
be sufficient to achieve selective lipase inactivation, but not so much as to render the polar lipids
oxidisable upon prolonged storage.[5]

See also