Chapter 1

Introduction
 Chapter 1

1.1 Introduction

Roller milling process which grinds the particles by the combination of shear and
compressive forces has the potential to fractionate the grains into various fractions with
different composition and functional properties. Grinding of grains with cast iron roller
mills instead of millstones was first reported in 1823 in Central Europe (Wilson, 2001).
The invention of roller mill revolutionized the grain processing industry. Roller mill
machine consists of a pair of grinding cylindrical rolls, which rotates in the opposite
directions. The roll surface can be smooth or fluted with grooves to produce cutting or
shearing action. Roller milling process is traditionally used to fractionate wheat grain into
bran, germ and different flour fractions. It is gradual grinding process, which involves
break open the grain and gradually scrapping the endosperm from the outer bran. The
separated endosperm is further ground into flour. It is a gradual refining process which
includes grinding, sieving, purification and dusting operations.

The nutritive components of the grains such as carbohydrates, protein, fibers,

minerals and lipids are non-uniformly distributed within the grain structure. The chemical
and functional properties of rolled milled fractions of the grains obtained at different
passages depend on the content of the various anatomical parts as well as the zone of the
endosperm from which they come during milling. An advantage of roller milling is
controlled gradual grinding, higher capacity, cool grinding, possibility of generating
various fractions enriched in a particular component without eliminating the synergistic
effects that might exist among different constituents and it may be a more attractive
commercial alternative. During an extraction process, usually only one component is
targeted, which may only be active to its full potential when other components are
present. Extraction tends to remove the other components and reduce the potential for the
synergistic effect and benefits of complete fractions. Grains are an excellent source of
several nutritious components. Grain fractions enriched in various bioactive constituents
can be obtained through different processes. One method is chemical extraction to
remove active compounds from grain and use them as nutraceuticals and food
ingredients. The other method is to fractionate grain by chemical free physical processes
like roller milling which involves the following operations.

Page 1
 Chapter 1

1.2 Grain preparation for roller milling

1.2.1 Cleaning of grains

Grains reaching at factory for milling usually contain foreign matters like the
stones, dust, metal, parts of plants, wood, bag material, etc. in it. These contaminants
must be removed from the grain before further processing. Seeds of weed were mixed
with the grain during growing or handling of grain. In additions to this, the poor or
damaged grains belong to impurities. These damages could be due to the mechanical,
biological or by insect damage. Damaged grains must be removed in the cleaning section
to produce the high and desirable quality of milled products. The presence of the majority
of impurities in grains is due to agricultural practices, environmental conditions during
growth and harvesting. Poor methods of harvesting, storage and transportation increases
the amount of contaminants in the grains. Bird excreta and rodent droppings some time
contaminate the grains through unclean handling and storage practices.

Impurities present in the grains during milling deteriorate the quality of the milled
products. Some impurities may damage the machinery working in the cleaning and
milling section such as stones, metal pieces, sand, etc. The impurities present in the
grains exhibits some different physical properties than grain such as size, shape, specific
gravity, colour, air resistance, etc. are used to separate them from the grains. Machines
designed to separate impurities from the grain are constructed in accordance with the
particular physical property in which the impurities differ from the main grain. The grain
cleaning section should be designed to allow the operator enough flexibility to properly
clean the grain with different types and percentage of impurities.

The objectives of grain cleaning process are:

1. Removing all non-grain impurities

2. Removing damaged grains and
3. Cleaning of grain by removing any dust from its surface by employing washing or
brushing and aspiration

Page 2
 Chapter 1

Methods of grain impurities separation

The impurities present in the grain are removed in the cleaning system by
multiple methods based on the different principles. Machinery used to separate impurities
present in the grain are based on the following properties either the impurities or grain.

A. Magnetic and nonmagnetic properties

When the ferrous metal object comes inside the magnetic field of the magnet, it
gets attracted towards it. This property of the ferrous metal objects is used to separate
them from grain using the magnets (Fig. 1.1A). They are extracted by passing the stream
of grain over magnets, which is installed at proper places in the processing. It is regular
practice to install magnetic separator at first in the cleaning process of the grain to protect
the machine from damage. The metal presence in grain during cleaning can cause wear
and tear of sieves, machine parts. It provides a potential source of sparks that might be
responsible for the dust explosion.

B. Size and dimensions

Machines with different sieves arrangement are used to separate impurities from
grain by size characteristics. Sieve must be in motion to achieve the separating action
such as rotary or oscillating. The stream of the grain is passed over the sieve; the
perforations being slightly larger than the largest grain allow the grain along with the
smaller impurities to pass through and large impurities tailing over. To separate the
impurities smaller than grain it is necessary to use the sieve with the perforations smaller
than the smallest grain; the through in this instance are smaller impurities and overtail is
grain. Machines employing this principle are grain intake hopper, drum sieve, reel
machine, grain separators (Fig. 1.1C), etc.

Page 3
 Chapter 1

A B

Fig 1.1 Machinery A: Magnetic separator; B: Aspirator channel and C: Size

separator

(Source: www.buhlergroup.com)

Page 4
 Chapter 1

C. Air Resistance

Light impurities present in the grain having less resistance to air currents than the
grain can be separated by using selective aspiration. These impurities are normally dust,
chaff, light grain, etc. An aspirator (Fig. 1.1B) is used to separate the lightweight
impurities from the grain. Grains are uniformly fed to the entire width of aspiration
channel by oscillating drive or directly from the virbo-separator. The principle employed
is to draw a strong current of air through a thin stream of grain. The aspiration air carries
light impurities away and aspirated product drops to the outlet. The velocity of the
flowing air is adjusted using the adjusting rear wall of the aspirator channel.

D. Specific gravity

This principle is used to separate the impurities that are very similar in size and
shapes to grain but differ in relative density. Impurities such as stones, mud balls, glass
and metal about the same size as the grains are not separated in the sieve separator. They
were being heavier than grains can be separated by relative density differences, using air
or water as the media. Destoner (Fig. 1.2A), should be placed after the separator in the
cleaning flow of grain. Grain along with the heavier impurities is fed to the destoner
frame. The frame is clothed with the wire mesh screen through which the air flows from
below to upward. The current of the air is adjusted to fluidize the grain, and heavier
impurities settles on the deck. Due to the oscillating motion of the frame, stones moves to
upward on the frame and discharged through the stone outlet.

E. Shape

All the impurities cannot be separated by the size principle. Using the difference
in shape, the separation between grains and impurities is possible. Machines using this
principle are indented cylinder separator (Fig. 1.2B), indented disc separator (carter disc)
and spiral seed separator (tobogon). Round impurities such as cockle and long grain
impurities like oat, barley are separated using the indented cylinder. It is the horizontal
rotating cylinder with pressed pocket shaped indents. Particles round in shape is lodged
into the pockets and raised to the particular height and dropped into the adjustable trough
and conveyed by the screw conveyor to the outlet and removed. The similarly long
impurities are separated using the bigger size of pockets.

Page 5
 Chapter 1

F. Surface friction

Surface friction separates the impurities adhering to the surface of the grain. This
principle is used in scourer (Fig. 1.2C) or brushing machines where the impurities
removed are through the screen openings and the clean grains are discharged at the outlet
end of the machine. The machine consists of the cylindrical rotor with beaters mounted
on it and rotates inside the perforated jacket. The grains are repeatedly thrown against the
rough jacket and friction is created:

 Between grain and grain

 Between grain and jacket
 Between grain and beaters

The smaller impurities pass through the jacket screen and cleaned grain are
discharged at the outlet of the machine.

G. Colour difference

Impurities are separated from the bulk of grain on the differences in their color,
using an electronic sensor. The grains are continuously fed to the inspection chamber by
the feeder. In the inspection chambers, grains are inspected by the digital cameras which
work in foreground and background lighting. The dark colour objects are rejected and
separated with the blast of compressed air. The rejected defects are collected separately
whereas the cleaned grains are passed through the machine outlet (Inamdar and Sakhare,
2014).

1.2.2 Conditioning of grain

Conditioning or the tempering is commonly meaning the treatment of grain with

moisture in order to modify its physical characteristics and thereby facilitating the
process of milling. The objective is to toughen the bran skin and mellow the endosperm.
Conditioning also facilitates the easy separation of different parts of the grain by
loosening the adherence between them. Conditioning helps for the easy and accurate
sifting of products by the sifter and achieves the right moisture content in the finished
products. The conditioning moisture and the time depend on the grains to be milled and
needs to be optimized for various grains and varieties.

Page 6
 Chapter 1

A B

C D

Fig 1.2 Machinery A: Dry destoner; B: Indent cylinder separator; C: Scourer and
D: Colour sorter

(Source: www.buhlergroup.com)

Page 7
 Chapter 1

1.3 Roller milling

The roller mill (Fig. 1.3A) contains two cylindrical rolls, rotating in an opposite
direction with different speed. The arrangements of grinding rolls are horizontal, vertical
or diagonal and parallel to each other. Arrangements of grinding rolls are:

1. Horizontal position
In this arrangement of the rolls, the stock can directly fed into the grinding zone.
The width of the roller mill is more and requires more floor space compared to the
vertical or diagonal arrangement.
2. Vertical position
This type of roller mill is unsatisfactory because of the even and steady stock
feeding to grinding rolls is difficult. The guiding plate guides the product to the
nip of the roll, the fine particles and flour tending to stick on the plate and
influences the regular feeding. The ground stock leaving the rolls is difficult to
reach for the sampling.
3. Diagonal position
This arrangement of rolls is in between horizontal and vertical position. The
advantage is the reduction in the width of the machine as well as good feeding of
the stock to the rolls without guiding plates.

Roller mills are manufactured in number of configuration and most common is

four roller mill. The four roller mill consists of two pairs of roll mounted on each side of
the stand and operates independently or can handle the same incoming stock. Each pair of
rolls has separate feeding system. Each pair of the roll is provided with the independent
adjustment mechanism and provided with the lever to disengaging the rolls when running
idle. The rolls are fed by the feed rolls and have separate drives for it with speed control
device to regulate the stock to the pair of rolls. It is very important to distribute the stock
evenly and over entire roller length during the operation. The feeding system consists of
the feed rolls and its type depends on stock. For the coarser stock, the rear shaft bladed
worm is provided for the distribution of stock from centre to both sides and front feed roll
with different types are provided to feed the stock to the rolls. Above the front feed roll,
the adjustable feed gate is provided for the feed control. The rate of stock entering the

Page 8
 Chapter 1

main rolls depends on the extent to which feed gate is open. The load sensors in the feed
housing continuously check the rate of incoming stock and fluctuation in the rate is
programmed to increase or decrease the rpm of the feed rolls. The roll adjusting
mechanism consists of a micro adjustment for adjusting the grinding space between the
rolls. Two hand wheels, one on the left side and one on right side are provided for the
adjustment of the rolls to set parallel. A leveling device is used to keep the rolls parallel
and a tensioning spring to permit the rolls to spread apart when any foreign objects pass
through the rolls.

Grinding rolls

The roll surface can be smooth or fluted with grooves to produce cutting or
shearing action. Rolls are made of cast iron and rapidly cooled to harden the outer surface
for longer life. Rolls are manufactured by centrifugal casting method by spinning the
mould, rotating around its axis, to hold the molten metal against the outer wall of the
mould. Dense, heavy, molten metal is poured into the mould to form the hard outer wall,
and then a softer, shock-absorbing molten metal is added (Fig. 1.3B). The outer chilled
harden cast layer is about 10-15 mm. Actual grinding takes place in between two rolls
and subjected the particle to shear and compressive forces, generated by the corrugation
on the roll surfaces and pressure by rolls while pulling the particles towards the nip of roll
(Haque, 1991). The magnitude of grinding forces imposed on the grains during roller mill
grinding varies according to the grinding conditions. The grinding conditions such as
feeding stock, grain characteristics, differential of roll speed, gap between roll, roll
surface and roll rpm influences the magnitude of each type of stress (Posner and Hibbs,
2005).

Factors influencing the grinding action

A. Diameter and length

The roll diameter ranges from 225 to 300 mm in diameter mostly used
commercially. The larger diameter rolls increase the grinding effect and are preferred for
flaking operation. Small diameter rolls are preferred to minimize the compression in
favor of more shear action. Most mills use standard size rolls of 1000 mm in length and
250 mm diameter.

Page 9
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.3 Machinery A: Roller mill and B: Chilled cast iron rolls

(Source: www.buhlergroup.com)

Page 10
 Chapter 1

B. Flute profile

Flutes are the fine cuts into the surface of the roll. The flute consist of front face,
back face, ground, and one land (Fig. 1.4A). The angle made by the front and back face
to the depth of flute is called as front and back angle respectively. The cutting action of
the flute increases as the angle decreases and depth of corrugation decreases as angle
increases.

C. Spiral of flute

The angle of inclination of the flute to the horizontal line on the surface of the roll
is called as a spiral (Fig. 1.4B). The spiral effects the cutting action and controls the
grinding. The higher spiral increases the grinding action.

D. Disposition of roll

Rolls can be operated in four different combinations in the pair and it is known as
a disposition of the roll. These four methods are shown in Fig. 1.4C are (A) sharp to
sharp, (B) dull to sharp, (C) sharp to dull and (D) dull to dull disposition. When front face
or back face of the flute involves in grinding, the action is called as sharp or dull
respectively. In dull to dull deposition, the back face of the fast roll flute and back face of
slow roll flutes are involved the grinding action. Similarly for sharp to sharp, the front
face of the fast and slow roll are involved in grinding work.

Dull to dull is least severe in action while as sharp to sharp is most severe of the
four possibilities. Dull to dull action have more scrapping and less of cutting while sharp
to sharp has more cutting and less scrapping action. Dull to sharp and sharp to dull has an
intermediate effect on grinding.

E. Differential

The differential is the ratio between the speeds of rolls. The slow roll has the
holding action against the fast roll. Differentials created the shearing force. The fast roll
is driven by the motor, which drives the slow roll with gears, chains, or belts. The break
rolls operated at the differential of 1:2.5 and reduction rolls 1:1.25.

Page 11
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.4 Flute details A: Flute parts; B: Flute spiral and (C) Flute dispositions

(Source: www.buhlergroup.com)

Page 12
 Chapter 1

F. Land

Land part of the flute is the portion of roll surface remaining between the two cut.
The objective of land is to provide strength to the flute. It also controls the grinding
action, too much land leads to reduced capacity of the roll. The land is expressed in mm
or as a percentage of roll circumferences.

G. Revolution per minutes (rpm)

The circumferential velocity of the roll surface influences the capacity of the roll
as the thickness of material in the grinding zone. Today’s roller mill with antifriction
bearings runs at higher rpm (500 rpm). High rpm of roll produces more fine particles and
power requirement increases as a square of the speed. It is advisable to run the roll at
lowest rpm necessary to handle the capacity.

1.3.1 Sieving process

The sieving operation commonly refers to the separation of groundmass into

various particle sizes. In roller milling process, the ground stock after each grinding is
sifted by size grading for subsequent operations (grinding, purification, etc.) and removes
flour produced in grinding operation. The commonly used sieving machines are gyrating
box sifter, reciprocating sieve capable of making two to four separation and the reel-type
machine that usually makes two or three separations. Among three, plansifter (Fig. 1.5A)
is used mostly, containing maximum 30 stacked sieves and makes maximum eight
separations. Relative movement is provided in between the product and sifting cloth. This
movement of stock on the cloth causes the stratification with heavier smaller particles of
endosperm to settle down and lighter particle of bran moving to the top of the stock layer.
The smaller heavier stock than the aperture of the sieve is pulled down by the gravity.
The movement of the stock on the sieve cloth conveys the stock through the sifter. The
type of separation in the sifter can be divided into the three main functions such as
scalping, grading and dusting.

1.3.2 Purification process

During the grinding process while scrapping of endosperm of grain from bran,
cutting of bran occurs and results in an endosperm and bran mixture in released

Page 13
 Chapter 1

middlings. This mixture remains after size grading in sifter and needs purification to
separate the bran from the equal size endosperm. The machine used is called as a purifier
(Fig. 1.5C). The purifier has two main functions 1) separation of bran, germ and other
non-endosperm material form endosperm chunks and 2) to grades the endosperm into
particle size ranges, which can more efficiently ground separately or packed as grits. The
primary function of purifier is to separate bran and germ from the endosperm. This is
achieved by the controlled air currents causing lighter particles such as bran and other
fibrous material to float on heavier endosperm. This material is discharged at the tail end
of the purifier.

The second function is to grade the stock and accomplished by several sections of
sieves. The screen aperture is graduated from fine at the head to coarse at the tail. A
current of air is drawn up through the screen to aspirate the material. The clean middlings
are collected at the head and the branny middlings at the tail of the purifier; the material
removed by the aspiration contains fine particles of endosperm and fiber.

1.3.3 Dusting operation

The objective of dusting operation is to remove adhering endosperm from the

bran and clean the bran. The machine uses the rotating beaters to throw the stock against
impact wall and perforated metal sheet screens (Fig. 1.5B). The stock is repeatedly
picked up by the rotor, gradually causing the flour particles to become completely
detached and passes through the apertures while the bran over tails the machine. The
screen opening may be selected based on the size of stock to be dusted. Duster may be
designed either horizontal or vertical. The throughs of duster stock consists of fine flour,
some middlings and a large amount of small bran particles. The throughs are sent to the
separate sifter for dressing out the flour.

1.4 Application of roller milling for fractionation of different grains

Roller milling process is used for the processing of wheat and most of the wheat
produced worldwide is processed on roller mills. Rye is also milled using the roller flour
mills. The roller mill is used for the milling of maize, barley, etc. The details of the roller
milling process and studies performed on various grains are as follows:

Page 14
 Chapter 1

A B

Fig 1.5 Machinery A: Plansifter; B: Bran duster and C: Purifier

(Source: www.buhlergroup.com)

Page 15
 Chapter 1

1.4.1 Wheat

Wheat kernel structure broadly consists of three main constituents: endosperm,

bran and germ. The endosperm, the major component, contains mainly starch granules
embedded in a proteinaceous matrix and accounts for 81–84% of the grain. Germ
amounts to 2–3% of the whole grain. The bran, outermost portion of grain forms 14–16%
and contains the aleurone layer, which is the part of endosperm botanically is removed
along with the bran during roller milling (Mac Masters et al., 1964). Wheat is milled into
the different finished products by roller milling method. Roller milling is gradual control
grinding process containing the break and reduction operation.

The roller milling process involves cleaning and conditioning operations to

prepare wheat for milling. The prepared wheat is milled by roller milling process. The
sequence of machines in the typical wheat cleaning section follows, in general, the
arrangement shown in the Fig. 1.6.

A weighing scale is the first machine in the cleaning flow as it is necessary to

check the weight of wheat received before removing any impurities. Immediately after
the weigher, there is a magnet to remove any scrap iron and to avoid any damage to
subsequent machines. Following the magnet is milling separator with aspiration channel
to separate all the impurities that are larger and smaller than the wheat grains and
aspirator for the separation of lighter admixtures. Destoner is for the separation of stones
and heavier objects based on the specific gravity. To separate of cockle, vetches, oats,
barely indented/disc cylinders are next in the flow. Surface cleaning by scorer will be at
the end of the cleaning and then wheat is moisture conditioned and rested before milling.

Conditioning is addition moisture to wheat, to modify its physical properties. The

objective is to toughen the bran skin and mellow the endosperm. Conditioning time
depends upon the structure of the kernel. Hard wheat requires more conditioning time
(24-36 h) compared to soft wheat (less than 12 h). Conditioning can be performed in two
stages when higher water addition is required for optimum conditioning.

Page 16
 Chapter 1

1.4.1.1 Wheat milling

The wheat flour milling process involves only two primary operations: grinding
and separation. Grinding of various particles is carried out primarily using the roller mill
using both shearing and the compression. Separation is typically handled by two
methods: sifting and purification. Sifting over sieve is strictly a separation according to
particle size differences. In purification, air is drawn up through the material on
reciprocating sieve to give the separation according to particle density, air resistance as
well as particle size. The grinding operation involves breaks rolls with fluted surface to
cut open the wheat kernel and remove the endosperm from bran coat and germ with the
minimum amount of bran contamination (bran cutting) and, at the same time, to produce
the granular maximum coarse endosperm with a minimum of flour and fine endosperm
that cannot be purified before reduction into flour. The break rolls are the gradual
operation and need four to five rolls to scrap the endosperm completely from the bran.
After each grinding at break rolls, the ground stock is graded into the plansifter and send
to the purification or reduction system. The purification system cleans the endosperm
from bran and germ and sends it to the reduction rolls according to the size grade.
Reduction rolls are to reduce the endosperm into the flour in the most economical way.
This is achieved by a gradual reduction system to control the starch damage and
minimize the amount of bran particle passing through the sifter into the flour. The
grinding action of the smooth roll reduces a more friable endosperm and at the same time
leaves the bran pieces intact so that they can be separated in the sifter. The commercial
milling process needs 8 to 12 reduction passages to grind endosperm into flour. Typical
wheat milling flow sheet is shown in Fig. 1.7. Endosperm particles that pass through the
finest sieve (150 µ) are considered as flour.

1.4.1.2 Studies on wheat roller milled fractions

Roller milling of wheat produces various fractions with different physicochemical

characteristics. Bran fractions are obtained in the form of coarse bran, fine bran and
pollard. The germ is removed and separated in the plansifter. Indian milling system
extracts different product range such as coarse semolina called sooji and fine semolina
called rava mostly used for the preparation of traditional sweet products like halva.

Page 17
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.6 Typical flow sheet of wheat cleaning section prior to milling

Page 18
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.7 Typical flow sheet of wheat milling section

Page 19
 Chapter 1

Each stage of grinding (break and reduction) process creates the flour, which
results into 14-20 flour streams production during roller milling. At the end of milling,
various streams are blended and mixed to get different grades of flours, treated with
bleaching agents and fortified with essential nutrients before packaging.

Many workers studied the distribution of nutrient in the various wheat roller
milled fractions. Protein composition diversity in mill streams is described by many
researchers (Dick et al., 1977; Feillet et al., 2000; Holas and Tipples, 1978; Veraverbeke
et al., 1999; Villanueva et al., 2001). Prabhasankar et al. (2000) in their study on quality
characteristics of wheat milled streams reported that the protein content of the break
streams increased from break one to break five and no trend for the reduction mill
streams protein. The similar results were reported by the Ziegler and Greer (1978) for the
break stream protein content. Liu et al. (2011) analyzed sulfur content and free amino
acids in flour mill streams obtained by lab mill. They observed that nitrogen and sulphur
content of break streams increased from the first break to the last break successively,
whereas reduction one passage had higher values of nitrogen and sulphur than other
reduction streams. They also mentioned that short and bran fractions had much higher
free amino acids concentration than flour streams and significant difference in free amino
acid content among flour streams. Different worker observed increase in the protein and
gluten content with increase in break or reduction passages (Banu et al., 2010; Dornez et
al., 2006; Rani et al., 2001; Sakhare et al., 2014). Wang et al. (2007) reported following
outcome in their research work:

 The roller milling of wheat produces several flour streams with varied protein
percentage and composition.
 The break flour streams showed high protein and high content of polymeric
proteins, similar to strong flour protein.
 Reduction flour streams observed low protein and low content of polymeric
proteins, similar to a weak flour protein.
 Bread loaf volumes from the break mill streams were higher than the reduction
flour streams.

Page 20
 Chapter 1

 The study showed that type of protein composition is more important than the
quality of protein and polymeric proteins play a major role in the bread making
quality.

Sutton and Simmons (2006) studied the molecular level protein composition of
mill streams and reported that break and reduction streams differed in protein
composition while the degree of exposure to thiol groups followed different pattern on
various protein groups between mill streams. About 60% of mineral content in the wheat
grain is concentrated in the aleurone layer (Hinton, 1959). The aleurone layer is a part of
endosperm but removed along with the bran during the milling. Hence, the bran fraction
is rich in mineral content compared to mill streams. In the mill streams, mineral content
increases from the first break to last break as well as from the first reduction to last
reduction passage (Sakhare and Inamdar, 2014b). Prabhasankar and Haridas Rao (1999)
in their study on lipid in mill streams reported that lipid content and fatty acid
composition showed wide variation among mill streams. The bound lipid content was
high in reduction streams. The palmitic and linoleic acids were higher in the flour streams
of the third (coarse and fine) break, fourth break, first middling and four middling. Many
experimental studies report the mill stream evaluation for hydrolytic and oxidation-
reduction enzymes (Every et al., 2006a,b; Hatcher and Kruger, 1993; Kruger, 1981;
Marsh and Galliard, 1986; McCallum and Walker, 1990; Rani et al., 2001). Rani et al.
(2001) evaluated the mill streams for distribution of enzymes and reported the following
findings:

 Break flour streams showed less alpha-amylase activity than reduction streams.
 The higher level of alpha-amylase activity was observed for the last break and
reduction passages.
 Protease enzyme activity was higher in the reduction flour streams than the break
streams.
 Reduction one to four flour streams had higher activity of protease among
reduction mill streams.

Page 21
 Chapter 1

 Lipoxygenase enzyme activity was relatively high in last break and reduction
passages flour streams.
 Among the break flour streams, peroxidase activity was higher in break 2, 3 and 4
streams. No particular trend was observed among the reduction flour streams.

Polyphenol oxidase level in individual streams varied widely and increased with
increased bran contamination in the mill streams (Hatcher and Kruger, 1993).
Arabinoxylans are cell wall non-starchy polysaccharides and a minor constituent in wheat
kernel. Arabinoxylans have a major impact on the functionality of wheat in bread making
processing. Arabinoxylans content varies with wheat cultivars (Gebruers et al., 2008;
Gebruers et al., 2010; Li et al., 2009) and within the wheat seed. About 20–27%
arabinoxylans are present in aleurone (Pomeranz, 1988), 23–32% in bran (Wang et al.,
2006) and 2–4% in endosperm part (Pomeranz, 1988). Arabinoxylan distribution in the
mill streams was reported by many researchers (Ciacco and D’Appolonia, 1982;
D’Appolonia and MacArthur, 1975; Delcour et al., 1999; Dornez et al., 2006; Every et
al., 2002; Lempereur et al., 1998; Loosveld et al., 1997; MacArthur and D’Appolonia,
1977; Wang et al., 2006). The results of these studies show wide variation in the
distribution of arabinoxylan among mill streams. The study of distribution of tocopherols
and tocotrienols in milling fractions of wheat showed that tocopherols are primarily
located in the germ fraction, but also in the fraction of fine bran and tocotrienols are
present in higher amount in bran fraction (Engelsen and Hansen, 2009). Results of the
study conclude that fine bran and germ fraction are good sources of vitamin E. Total
phenolic contents and antioxidant activity content of mill streams were evaluated by
Aprodu and Banu (2012). They reported that the highest total phenolic contents were
obtained for the second fraction of first and second break passages. Flour streams from
last two break passages and reduction passages that processed the tailing of first three
reduction passages and bran duster stock registered highest antioxidant activity. Effect of
mill streams on quality of different products such as bread (Wang et al., 2007), cookies
(Fustier et al., 2009) cake (Gómez et al., 2010), Indian parotta (Indrani et al., 2003),
noodles, etc. was reported. The study showed that the mill streams are varied in their
chemical and functional quality with respect to product processing.

Page 22
 Chapter 1

1.4.2 Barley

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is fourth important cereal in the world in terms of

production after wheat, rice and corn. Barley was cultivated even before any recorded
history of man. Barley is an important cereal commercial crop of India because of its high
industrial applications such as in the preparation of beer, beverages, etc. Barley grain
consists of caryopsis enclosing husk and hull. Caryopsis of the barley grains formed from
pericarp, aleurone layer, endosperm, and germ or embryo. Germ portion of the grain is
attached to its dorsal side end. Aleurone layer contains enzymes and protein bodies. The
endosperm contains of starch bodies embedded in the protein matrix and provides energy
for the developing embryo. The pericarp forms the protective layer on the entire kernel.
The whole barley grains contains about 65-68% starch, 10-17% proteins, 4-9% ß-glucan,
and 1.5-2.5% minerals content (Izydorczyk et al., 2000; Quinde et al., 2004). Lipid
content is lower compared to oat and corn is about 2-3%. Total dietary fiber content
ranges from 11 to 34% with soluble dietary fiber content from 3 to 20% (Fastnaught,
2009).

1.4.2.1 Barley milling

The raw barley contains the impurities, which will be removed during the
cleaning of barley. The machineries are magnetic separator, size separator, aspirator and
destoner. Barley cleaning also includes indented batteries for grading of barley and
scourers with aspiration channel. Barley cleaning section also houses the dust collectors,
filter, cyclones and transportation equipments. The hull is firmly attached to the pericarp
and is pearled during the dehulling process. The dehulling operation is gradual removal
of the hull, bran and germ. The first stage removes about 7-14% of the weight of kernel
and further abrasion results in the removal of the pericarp, aleurone layers, and germ.
This processing produces the polished grain rich in starch, protein and ß- glucan. The
general flow of operation of barley processing is presented in the Fig. 1.8. The pearled
barley is roller milled to produce the barley flour which is used for the baby foods,
bakery blends, gluten free diet, etc. Roller milling along with the sifter and purifier are
used for the production of barley semolina / grits. The barley semolina is used for making
couscous (Aziz and Mohammed, 2013).

Page 23
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.8 Flow chart of barley processing

Page 24
 Chapter 1

Roller milling fractionation of barley kernel has been widely studied for the
production of valuable fractions (Bhatty, 1987; Bhatty, 1992; Bhatty, 1993; Bhatty, 1997;
Bhatty, 1999; Danielson et al., 1996; Kiryluk et al., 2000; Klamczynski and
Czuchajowska., 1999; Newman and Newman, 1991; Wang et al., 1993). The results of
studies showed the wide range of flour yield ranging from 30-74% by roller milling. A
negative relationship between the yield of flour from hull-less barley and β-glucan
content was reported by Bhatty (1999). The barley bran is brittles and gets powdered
during the roller milling. Hence, barley is pearled by abrasion to remove bran before
roller milling. Waxy hull-less barley was fractionated by Wang et al. (1993) by using
Miag Multomat eight roller experimental mill. Fraction generated were flour
(combination of break and first four middling passage), fifth middling flour, red dog,
break shorts, reductions shorts and bran. Average flour yield produced was very low
with 30.3% and bran was the largest fraction.

Three milling products such as break flour, reduction flour and bran fraction were
obtained by roller milling of covered and hull-less barleys by Klamczynski and
Czuchajowska (1999). The flour yield was in the range of 55.30-61.80%. The highest
starch content was recorded in the break flour regardless of barley type and pearling
level. Reduction flour showed less starch but more ash, protein, lipids and total β-glucan
than break flour. Bran fraction was rich in ash, free lipid, protein and β-glucan. Kiryluk et
al. (2000) have shown that by doing certain changes in the adjustment of roller milling,
new and nutritionally valuable fractions can be produced from barley. Fine and coarse
grain flour, fine grits, middlings were obtained by milling. The fine grits from the impact
milling of coarse grits observed higher ash (2.2%), β-glucan (6.7%), protein (15.8%), and
total dietary fiber (25.10%). Izydorczyk et al. (2003) developed simplified roller milling
procedure to obtain a good yield of fiber-rich fraction. The following results were
reported in their study:

 Barley roller milling generates various fractions with variable composition.

 ß- glucan and arabinoxylan are highly concentrated in the short fraction from
reduction passage.

Page 25
 Chapter 1

 Barley conditioning prior to roller milling is beneficial to milling performance for

both pearled and unpearled barley.

1.4.3 Rye

The rye grains consist of hull, pericarp, testa, aleurone, endosperm and germ
component. The rye grain is processed to remove the outer hull before used in food
production. Whole grain flour of rye contains 56-70% starch, 8-13% protein, 2% ash, 2-
3% lipids and 15-22% dietary fiber. The outer layer of the endosperm is aleurone and it is
rich in mineral, vitamins and phytochemicals. Dietary fibre is concentrated in the outer
layer of the grain (bran). Among all cereals, whole grain rye contains highest amount of
dietary fibre (Bengtsson and Aman, 1990; Nilsson et al., 1996)

1.4.3.1 Rye milling

Rye is processed using the roller flour mills very similarly to wheat roller
processing. The rye grains are cleaned to remove all the impurities from it. The cleaned
grains are water conditioned to mellow the endosperm before milling process. The roller
milling consists of break rolls, where grains are cut open and endosperm scrapped from
the bran gradually. The rye grain is passed through several break operation to remove
endosperm completely from bran. The endosperm grits produced at initial break rolls go
to the reduction rolls to reduce the size of endosperm to obtain fine flour. Reduction
system is also gradual process and passes through the number of passages to produce the
flour. The flour is produced at each grinding stage which results into the generation great
number of flour fractions. The flour fractions are combined to obtain flour with different
characteristics. The general flow sheet of rye processing is presented in Fig. 1.9. The
flour streams differ in their chemical composition due to uneven distribution of nutrients
inside the grain. These chemical differences determine the quality of flour and their end
uses. Gomez et al. (2009) roller milled the two samples of commercially available rye in
an industrial roller mill. Four break flour streams (B1, B2, B3 & B4) and ten reduction
flour streams (R1-1, R1-2, R2-1, R2-2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7-1, R7-2) were collected and
used for the study. Following results were observed in the study:

 Moisture content and starch content decreased as milling process advanced, but
increased values of ash, protein, damage starch and β-glucans observed.

Page 26
 Chapter 1

 The break flour streams recorded lower water absorption than reduction flour
streams.
 As milling proceeded, the increase in development time and peak viscosity of
streams observed.
 The most different streams were the last streams of break, sizing and middling
processes.

Nilsson et al. (1997) roller milled rye using the Buhler Laboratory Mill (MLU-
202) and obtained six flour fractions, short and bran. The increase in ash, protein, fat was
observed from flour 1 to flour 6. The bran and short fractions were higher in ash, protein,
fat, dietary fibers and lignans. Heinio et al. (2003) studied roller milling fractionation of
rye to produce different sensory profile for flour and bread. Wannerberger and Eliasson
(1993) evaluated thermal properties of rye mill flour streams by suing differential
scanning calorimetry and Wannerberger et al. (1997) reported interfacial behaviour of
rye mill streams.

1.4.4 Maize

Maize is the most important cereal grain after wheat and rice, providing nutrients
for humans and animals. It is utilized for the production of starch, protein, oil, food
sweeteners, alcohol production and fuel. It is a staple food in Mexico, Central and South
America, and many parts of Africa. The grain components are endosperm (80-82%),
germ (10-12%) and bran (5-6%).

1.4.4.1 Maize milling

Maize processing details are shown in the Fig. 1.10. Maize received for the
processing is cleaned to remove the impurities from it by using various machinery. The
cleaned maize is conditioned by adding water for the modification of physical properties
to suit for the milling. Degermination is an important process in maize milling, as
efficient removal of germ is vital for producing finished products with low-fat content.
The degerminated stock is processed using roller mills along with the plansifter and
purifiers to produce maize grits and flour.

Page 27
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.9 Rye roller milling flow chart

Page 28
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.10 Maize milling flow chart

Page 29
 Chapter 1

1.4.5 Other grains

Sakhare et al. (2014) fractionated green gram using Laboratory Buhler Roller Mill
(MLU-202). Effect of conditioning moisture content on the milling parameters of green
gram was studied. The results showed that the distribution of nutrients was wide among
the mill streams and by-products. The protein content increased with an increased
number of break and reduction flour streams. The dietary fiber content was higher in seed
coat fraction. Indrani et al. (2015) fractionated black gram using the roller milling and
used them in the formulation of breads for the production of nutritionally improved
breads. The sorghum grain dry milled with roller mill to produce the grits with low fat
content (Abdelrahman and Farrell, 1981). The results concluded that optimum
conditioning moisture of 17% with eight hours tempering time was found to be optimum
for the production of high yield of grits with low fat content. A simple roller milling
system was developed for the production of low fat grits from pearl millet (Abdelrahman
et al., 1983). The process contains three steps such as decortications, tempering and roller
milling with fine fluted rolls. The roller milling process produced a yield of 61% grits
with 1.2% fat. Tulse et al. (2014) studied the multigrain roller milling to produce
nutritionally improved flour and products. They milled multigrain blends of wheat-green
gram-barley by using the roller mill. It was observed that the protein, fiber, and minerals
were increased in the multigrain milled flour. The flour yield increased with increasing in
multigrain in blends. Kumar et al. (2016a) showed the feasibility of preparation of flour
fractions and nutrient rich bran fraction from foxtail millet by roller milling. They
reported that the BDR fraction contained highest dietary fiber, protein, and minerals such
as iron. It also showed highest phytic acid and total antioxidant activities.

The review of literature on roller milling of diffrent grains shows that the roller
milling has a potential to produce various products which are unique in composition and
functionality. Fenugreek seed is excellent source of nutritious components which are non-
uniformly distributed within the grain structure and has a potential to be fractionated by
application of roller milling process.

Page 30
 Chapter 1

1.5 Fenugreek

Fenugreek or Methi as commonly called in North India, is a small annual herb,

belong to family Leguminoseae with a botanical name of Trigonella foenum -graecum
Linn. This species is cultivated while other species T. polycerata is a wild one.
Fenugreek leaves and seeds are used as a green vegetable and spice respectively. Spices
are natural food adjuncts that have been in use for thousands of years to enhance the
sensory quality of foods. Fenugreek is a native Southeastern Europe and West Asia. It is
now cultivated in India, Argentina, Egypt and Mediterranean countries (Southern France,
Morocco and Lebanon). In most of the Indian languages such as Bengali, Gujarati,
Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Hindi and Urdu, it is called Methi; Kannada- Menthe;
Malayalam- Ventazun, Uluva; Tamil -Vendayam or Venthiyam; Telugu-Mentulu. Seeds
of fenugreek are commonly used in cooking.

Botany

The taxonomical details are as follows:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae

Genus: Trigonella

Species: foenum-graecum Linn (Flammang et al., 2004; Snehlata and Payal,

2012)

1.5.1 Cultivation, plant and seed

Presently, fenugreek is an important cash crop in India (Leading fenugreek

producing country), Morocco, China, Pakistan, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel,
Egypt, Kenya etc. (Smith, 1982; Edison, 1995). Fenugreek is grown as an annual crop

Page 31
 Chapter 1

and cultivated as a semi-arid crop. The leaves are used as a green leafy vegetable well as
spices in India. India is one of the major producer and exporter of fenugreek. About
35,000 hectares of land is cultivated under fenugreek in India, yielding about 40,000
tonnes of which 7000 tonnes are exported annually. According to Edison (1995), India
claims 70-80 % of world's export in fenugreek. This spice occupies third place in the area
and fourth place in production among all the minor spices grown in the country.
Fenugreek cultivation needs well drained soil of medium texture.

It is an erect, strongly scented annual of the bean family, reaching 30-60 cm high.
Plant height is about three feet and has three part leaves of light green. The sessile
axillary flowers are white or pale yellow. The thin, sword shaped pods are 10-15 cm long
with a curved beak like pointed tip, carrying 10-20 seeds. A long tap root sends up a
round stem with few branches. Mild mediterranean climates suits for the growth. Plant
maturation period is about four months. Fenugreek seeds are small in size with about 2.5-
6 mm long, 2-4 mm wide and 2 mm thick according to Fazli and Hardman (1968). Seeds
are brownish yellow in colour, hard, round or square in outline and have four-faced stone
like structure. Fenugreek seed is surrounded by the seed coat. In between the seed coat
and embryo, a well developed horny and dark translucent endosperm is present. The
majority of the endosperm cells are non living in the mature seed. This tissue is
surrounded by the aleurone, which is one cell layer of living tissue.

The endosperm galactomannan is to support the seedling growth during early post
germination phase and regulate the water balance of embryo during germination. The
embryo is composed of a cotyledon pair and the embryonic axis. The embryo also
reserves nutrients (lipid, sugar, protein), that will be metabolized upon seed germination
and used for the growth need of young seedling (Bewley et al., 1993). The different parts
of fenugreek seed are shown in Fig 1.11.

1.5.2 Fenugreek seed composition and uses

The major constituents of fenugreek seeds are proteins 20 to 25% high in

tryptophan and lysine, dietary fiber 45 to 50%, fats 6 to 8% and steroidal saponins 2 to

Page 32
 Chapter 1

5% (Table 1.1). The fiber portion consists of both insoluble (30%) and soluble fraction
(20%), which is mostly galactomannan. The lipid (6-8%) present in the seed is mainly
consists of neutral lipids, namely 6.3% triglycerides and 450 mg to 100 g phospholipids
(Shankaracharya et al., 1973). The fenugreek oil is used for cosmetic, in perfumes, and it
is also have insect and pest repellent properties (Phillips and Foy, 1990).

In addition to these main components, some minor components like

approximately 4 to 8% saponins and about 1% alkaloids, contributing to bitterness,
gastric stimulation, increased acidity, and increased appetite (Srinivasan, 2006).
Fenugreek has a good amount of phosphorus and sulphur (Nasir and Tinay, 2007).

Fenugreek seeds are largely used as condiment and curry stuff. In some parts of
the India and Pakistan fenugreek is used for different purposes such as leaves are used as
vegetables, the dried herb is used as a flavoring agent and its seed for the treatment of
swelling and bruises (Hardman and Fazil, 1972). Raw seeds of fenugreek have a bitter
taste and maple flavor but by the process by roasting, bitterness can be reduced and flavor
can be enhanced (Meghwal and Goswami, 2012). Fenugreek seed or powder is used in
chutneys, pickles, spice powdered and vegetable dishes. Fenugreek is used as an
ingredient in bread in Egypt and Ethiopia. In Greece, fenugreek seeds are boiled or raw
eaten along with honey. In the USA, seeds are added in chutneys and in spice blends, but
the most important use is the use of fenugreek extract as a flavoring ingredient of
initiation maple syrup. Seeds also used in veterinary medicinal preparations. The powder
of the fenugreek seeds is mixed with cotton seed to feed the cow to increase the flow of
milk.

1.5.3 Fenugreek health benefits

Several studies have shown that fenugreek has potent antidiabetic activity, the
ability to lower plasma cholesterol levels, antioxidant activity and possess antineoplastic
and anti-inflammatory properties. An earlier report concludes that fenugreek is not
producing any acute or cumulative toxicity (Narasimhamurthy et al., 1999; Rao, 1996).
The health benefits of fenugreek in details are described by the Srinivasan (2006).

Page 33
 Chapter 1

Fig 1.11 Fenugreek seed and its different parts

Table 1.1 Chemical compositions of fenugreek whole seed

Constituents (%)

Moisture 6-10

Proteins 20-25

Lipids 6-8

Ash 3-5

Dietary fibers 45-50

Soluble fibers 18-22
Insoluble fibers 28-32

Saponins 2-5

(Source: Gupta et al., 2001)

Page 34
 Chapter 1

Antidiabetic property

Dietary fiber content in food offers substantial health benefits to the persons with
diabetes mellitus. The studies have shown that prevalence of diabetes is lower in the
populations with high intake of fiber than low intake. The mechanism of fenugreek in
diabetic control in animal studies have shown that the ability of dietary fiber to delay the
gastric emptying, insulinotropic hormones and suppress the release of gastric inhibitory
peptides (Srinivasan, 2005a). Fenugreek contains the dietary fiber of about 50% with
20% soluble (mucilage fiber) and 30% insoluble fiber. Seed also contains trigonelline, an
alkaloid known to have an effect on glycosuria. The clinical trials and animal trails
conducted at National Institute of Nutrition, India have shown the beneficial effect of
fenugreek in type-1 and type-2 diabetes (Srinivasan, 2006). Many research studies
reported the beneficial hypoglycemic effects of fenugreek in diabetic rats (Khosla et al.,
1995; Madar, 1984; Mondal et al., 2004; Nahar et al., 1992; Raju et al., 2004) in diabetic
rabbits (Jain et al., 1987; Murthy et al., 1990) and in diabetic dogs (Valette et al., 1984).
Hypoglycemic effect of fenugreek is also proven in human studies (Madar and Arad,
1989; Sharma, 1986a&b). The hypoglycemic effect of fenugreek is attributed to its fiber
and gum content, which is about 52% of the seeds portion (Srinivasan, 2005b).

Hypocholesterolemic activity

Hypocholesterolemic problem is due to the abnormal level of cholesterol in the

blood. The studies show the fenugreek to be hypocholesterolemic in several animal
experiments and few clinical trials (Srinivasan, 2004). Singhal et al. (1982) observed the
hypocholesterolemic effects of fenugreek seeds. Sharma (1986a) reported that fenugreek
prevented the rise in serum cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic diet rats. Among the
various component studied, only fiber and saponin of the seed observed cholesterol-
lowering activity.

Antioxidant Activity

The earlier studies showed that the fenugreek has a powerful antioxidant in which
polyphenols and flavonoids presence is responsible for the same (Dixit et al., 2005;
Rababah et al., 2004). Effect of fenugreek powder diet supplementation for 30 days with

Page 35
 Chapter 1

the dosage of 2 g/kg body weight on antioxidant and lipid peroxidation in alloxan-
diabetic rats was evaluated by Anuradha and Ravikumar (2001). The in vivo and in vitro
evaluation of antioxidant property of fenugreek was carried out in ethanol-induced toxic
rats which prevented enzyme leakage and reduced lipid peroxidation (Thirunavukkarasu
et al., 2003).

Obesity

The influence of fenugreek fiber administration in healthy obese subjects showed

increase in satiety and fullness effect and marked fall in the hunger and prospective
reduced food energy intake using visual analog scale which would support for treating
acute obesity patients (Mathern et al., 2009). The galactomannans present in the
fenugreek fiber is assumed to be responsible for the fullness effect and promoting satiety
by decreasing the gastric emptying rate and decreased energy intake (Kaur et al., 2011).
Hence, the fenugreek fiber can be used for the treating the obese patients.

1.5.4 Uniqueness of fenugreek fiber

Fenugreek seed is a rich source of dietary fiber content, which is an essential

ingredient in a healthy diet. Dietary fibers consist of soluble and insoluble roughage.
Most of the grains, fruits and vegetable have insoluble fiber whereas legumes have
soluble fiber. Fenugreek is an excellent source of both soluble and insoluble fiber.
Fenugreek seed contains 50% dry weight edible dietary fiber, making it the highest
concentration among all natural sources of fiber. The soluble fibers of the fenugreek are
mostly gum galactomannan. It is made of two major sugars mannose and galactose. The
soluble fiber of the fenugreek is mostly found in endosperm portion of the grain and
derived as fenugreek gum.

The galactomannan derived from the difference source varies in their ratio of
mannose to galactose, molecular weight and mode and place of galactose linkages to the
mannose backbone. The locust bean galactomannans have mannose to galactose ratio of
4:1, guar seed galactomannans have 2:1 and the fenugreek galactomannans has the
maximum amount of galactose and the ration is 1:1. In vitro and animal studies have
shown that the fenugreek seed galactomannan lowers plasma cholesterol level.

Page 36
 Chapter 1

Fenugreek galactomannan swells instantaneously in the presence of moisture upon

reaching the stomach, resulting in an increase in viscosity that slows gastric emptying. It
also thickens intestinal contents that lead to a delay in glucose absorption, resulting in a
decrease in blood sugar spikes following a meal. Slowed gastric emptying also generates
a feeling of fullness and suppresses appetite, which promotes weight loss. The
hypoglycemic and hypercholesterolemic effect of fenugreek is attributed to its fiber and
gum content, which is about 52% of the seeds portion (Srinivasan, 2005b).

1.5.5 Fractionation and /or Extraction of valuable compound from fenugreek seed

Studies indicated that isolated fenugreek fractions have numerous therapeutic

properties. Table 1.2 shows different methods for extraction and /or fractionation of
useful compounds from fenugreek seed.

Brummer et al. (2003) extracted the fenugreek gum, purified and characterized it
for physicochemical parameters. The gum was extracted from defatted and deactivated
fenugreek seeds for 2 h at 10°C, which yielded 22% gum with 2.36% protein
contaminants. Fenugreek gum was purified by using pronase enzyme to reduce the
protein content to 0.57%. Fenugreek gum showed higher molecular weight and similar
rheological behaviors to that of guar and locust bean gum. Fenugreek gun recorded the
ability to reduce the surface tension of water.

Karawya (1980) isolated the fenugreek mucilage by extracting with hexane. This
is followed by boiling the powder in ethanol for 20 min. Treated powder soaked in water
at 3.5 pH and mixture was stirred for 12 h and filtered. The filtrated centrifuged,
supernatant concentrated and mixed with the same volume of ethanol (96%). The mixture
stored in a refrigerator (4 h) and centrifuged to get mucilage. Further mucilage was
washed in distilled water followed by washing with diethyl ether and acetone. The
resultant was dried at 45°C overnight to get an off-white powder.

Rao et al. (2002) patented the process for obtaining useful materials from
fenugreek seeds such as pure fixed oils, oleoresin and dietary fiber. The method employs
two stage solvent extraction processes in which two separate solvents are used. First stage
solvent extracted oil and the second stage extracted oleoresin. The dietary fibers after

Page 37
 Chapter 1

remaining of extraction are clean, light yellow to light brown, substantially tasteless and
odorless. The protein concentrate was prepared (Nasri and Tinay, 2007) from the
fenugreek seed by extraction and used for the study of functional properties. The method
produced the protein concentrate with 73.9% protein and moisture of 5.3%. The results
showed that protein is more soluble at acidic and alkaline pHs than near neutral pH.
Emulsifying and foaming properties of the protein concentrate were greater than those of
other legumes.

Blank et al. (2000) prepared a flavorant composition by hydrolyzing fenugreek

seed material with enzymes, heating the hydrolyzate obtained to inactivate the enzymes,
centrifuging and isolating the liquid phase and evaporatively concentrating the liquid
phase. Chang (1999) patented the process for the extraction of fenugreek seeds to obtain
various valuable fractions such as soluble dietary fiber fraction, high-protein fenugreek
meal, de-flavored fenugreek seed, saponins and oleoresins.

Naidu et al. (2011) separated fenugreek seed into husk and the endosperm by
grinding it in laboratory plate mill followed by the hand sieving to study their antioxidant
properties. A study showed the distribution of phenolic acids and dietary fiber content
varied among the fenugreek seeds. Husk contained the highest total level of dietary fiber
and phenolic acids, whereas the endosperm is enriched in saponins and protein.
Shakuntala et al. (2011) fractionated the germinated fenugreek seeds to study their
chemical constituents with a view to determine the effect of germination on specific
constituents. They reported that germinated endosperm was rich in protein; germinated
seed coat was rich in dietary fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and
monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) when compared to ungerminated endosperm and
seed coat respectively. The study showed that superiority in the use of germinated seed
fractions in nutritional foods compared to their ungerminated counterparts.

Pilgaonkar et al. (2004) isolated the fenugreek fiber by the hammer milling and
sieving, the process was repeated several times. The fiber rich fraction was separated by
fluidization and sifter. The highly purified fiber rich fraction was obtained from fiber rich
fraction by solvent extraction method

Page 38
 Chapter 1

Table 1.2 Fractionation and / or extraction of valuable compound from fenugreek seed

Valuable Compound Extraction and /or Fractionation method Reference

Gum Extraction method: Brummer et al., 2003

Ground fenugreek seed, hexane extraction, residue dried, ethanol extraction (95%),
ethanol reflux (70%), solution filtered, residue was extracted with cold water (10°C),
centrifuged, supernatant precipitated with ethanol, precipitate was lyophilized,
fraction-A obtained, water solublization and incubation with pronase enzyme,
centrifuged, supernatant precipitated with ethanol fraction-B with reduced protein
content.

Gum Extraction method: Karawya, 1980

Fenugreek powder extraction with hexane, the defatted powder was boiled in ethanol
(20 min), powder soaked in water (10 litres, pH 3.5), mechanical stirred (12 h),
filtrated, filtrate centrifuged, supernatant concentrated (50% of its initial volume),
precipitated with ethanol, centrifuged, mucilage re-suspended in distilled water, re-
precipitated, residue washed with diethyl ether and acetone, dried, off-white mucilage
powder.

Pure fixed oils, Extraction method: Rao et al., 2002

oleoresin and dietary Two different solvent extraction methods were used. First extraction isolates the
fixed oils from the fenugreek seed and second extraction oleoresins. The dietary fiber

Page 39
 Chapter 1

fiber remaining after the extraction is light yellow to light brown and clean.

Protein concentrate Extraction method: Nasri and Tinay,

Fenugreek defatted seed powder extracted by blending with 1 M NaCl using a flour 2007
to solvent ratio of 1:10, centrifuged, isoelectrically precipitated at pH 4.5, drying in
open air, protein concentrate.

Flavour extract Extraction method: Blank et al., 2000

Germinated seed powder, enzymatic hydrolysis, heat treatment to inactivate

enzymes, mixture centrifuged, liquid phase concentrated by evaporation, drying in
presence of drying support maltodextrin, dried flavor extract.

Soluble fibers, dioscin Extraction method: Chang, 1999

and other saponins, and 1) Recovery of oleoresins: Fenugreek seed, tempered (16% moisture, 24 h), flaking,
oleoresins extraction with ethanol (95%), slurry centrifuged, supernatant filtered, oleoresin
recovered from filtrate by evaporation.

2) Recovery of soluble fiber: Fenugreek seed tempered, milled, sieved, over fractions
water extraction (1:30 w/v – 4 h – 60°C), slurry centrifuged, light phase precipitated
with ethanol, centrifuged, crude gum recovery, washed twice, recovery by
centrifugation or filtration, drying, soluble fiber.

3) Recovery of soluble fiber from previously extracted fenugreek flakes: Extracted

Page 40
 Chapter 1

fenugreek flakes, tempered (20% moisture, 48 h), milled, sieving, over fraction
extracted for gum as earlier method, soluble fiber (Gum).

Husk and endosperm Fractionation method: Naidu et al., 2011

Fenugreek grinding by lab plate grinder, sieving, husk and endosperm separation.

Seed coat, endoderm Fractionation method: Shakuntala et al.,

and sprout 2011
Germinated seed fractions: Fenugreek germinated fractions separated by manually.

Ungerminated seed fractions: Fenugreek seed, ground by hand grinder and manually
separated into fractions and evaluated for chemical composition.

Fiber rich fractions and Fractionation and Extraction method: Pilgaonkar et al.,
highly purified fiber rich Isolation of fiber rich fraction: Fenugreek seed, milled though multimill with 4 mm 2005
fraction sieve and hammers, sieving , over fractions again milled by multimill, process
repeated 11 more times, fractions was separated by fluidization and sifter, fiber rich
fraction.

Highly purified fiber rich fraction: Prepared dispersion of FRF in 5% acetic acid (2%
w/v), sieved through 60#, process repeated with insoluble fraction, precipitated using
polar alcohol (1:0.5 ratio), precipitated washed with 1:1 methanol: acetone (thrice),
washed with acetone (thrice), filtered and dried.

Page 41
 Chapter 1

1.6 Fenugreek enriched wheat based products

Many researchers studied the supplementation of whole fenugreek flour in various

wheat based products. Table 1.3 shows the summary of research results of fenugreek
fortified wheat based products. Hooda and Jood (2005a) supplemented wheat flour with
fenugreek flour (raw, soaked and germinated) from 5 to 20% levels. The results observed
increased level of protein, lysine, minerals and fiber contents of bread. Addition of
fenugreek (raw, soaked and germinated) up to 15% level produced bread with a
satisfactory quality, whereas the 20% level caused a reduced loaf volume and the breads
were found to be bitter in taste. Losso et al. (2010) substituted wheat flour with fenugreek
flour at the level of 2.5, 7.5 and 10% and the study showed replacement of wheat flour by
5% or less fenugreek flour produced bread with acceptable sensory quality, colour and
dough with good kneading properties.

Hooda and Jood (2005b) prepared biscuits from the blends containing different
proportions (0 to 20%) of raw, soaked and germinated fenugreek seed flour. The results
showed that the maximum of 10% fenugreek flour can be added to prepare acceptable
quality biscuits. An addition of fenugreek flour to biscuit increased the nutritive value.
Hegazy and Ibrahim (2009) also reported similar results.

Losso et al. (2010) investigated the effect of adding fenugreek flour on cookies
and tortillas. Chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies replaced with 2% fenugreek
flour. It was determined through sensory testing the method of incorporating fenugreek
flour with least impact on flavor was to add fenugreek with sugar when creaming the
butter.

Jyotsna et al. (2011) evaluated the effect of supplementation of fenugreek seed

powder (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10%) on quality characteristics of vermicelli. The 7.5%
substitution level was recommended with an acceptable sensory score. The results
showed decreased cooking loss and stickiness of vermicelli with increased shear force.

Indrani et al. (2010a) studied the effect of replacement of wheat flour with 2.5, 5.0
and 7.5% fenugreek seed powder on the quality of parotta. Sensory evaluation showed
that parotta with perceptible fenugreek flavour could be produced by adding maximum
5% fenugreek seed flour.

Page 42
 Chapter 1

Table 1.3 Summary of fenugreek enriched wheat based products

Wheat based Nature of Levels of Acceptable Results of study Reference

products fenugreek replacement Level
incorporated

Bread Raw, Soaked 0,5,10,15 and 15% Germinated fenugreek flour supplemented Hooda and Jood,
and Germinated 20 % bread at 15% was acceptable and contained 2005a
higher amount of protein, total lysine, dietary
(Whole seed
fibre and minerals.
flour)

Bread Fenugreek seed 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 5% Replacement by 5% or less fenugreek flour Losso, 2009
flour and 10% produced bread with acceptable sensory
quality and colour and dough with good
kneading properties.

Biscuit Raw, Soaked 0, 5, 10, 15 10% Addition of raw, soaked and germinated Hooda and Jood,
and Germinated and 20% fenugreek flour to wheat flour increased the 2005b
contents of protein, lysine, dietary fibre,
(Whole seed
calcium and iron
flour)

Biscuit Soaked and 0, 5, 10, 15 10% Addition of soaked and germinated Hegazy and
Germinated and 20 % fenugreek flour increased protein, fat, fiber, Ibrahium,
ash and indispensible amino acids.
(Whole seed 2009
flour)

Page 43
 Chapter 1

Biscuit Soaked and 0, 5, 10,1 5 10% Replacement of 10% germinated fenugreek Ibrahium and
Germinated and 20 % flour into wheat biscuit formula considerably Hegazy,
improved the bioavailability of iron.
(Whole seed 2009
flour)

Cookies Fenugreek seed 2.0 % 2.0% The study showed best method for fenugreek Losso, 2009
flour incorporation was along with sugar when
creaming butter with least impact on flavour.

Vermicelli / Fenugreek seed 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 7.5% The substitution of fenugreek flour in Jyotsna et al.,
Pasta flour and 10% vermicelli showed that fenugreek decreased 2010
cooking loss, stickiness and increased shear
force values, indicating strengthening of
strands

Parotta Fenugreek seed 0, 2.5, 5 and 5% Study showed that acceptable quality parotta Indrani et al.,
flour 7.5% was produced with 5% fenugreek flour. In 2010
the micrograph of parotta dough containing
7.5% fenugreek flour, the starch granules
appeared coated with fenugreek gum.

Page 44
 Chapter 1

Hooda and Jood (2003) reported the effect of fenugreek (raw, soaked, and
germinated) flour on wheat flour dough rheology. Farinograph water absorption, dough
stability, dough development time and mixing tolerance index increased significantly
with increased amount of fenugreek flour in the blends. Indrani et al. (2010a) showed that
the replacement of wheat flour with fenugreek seed flour at 2.5, 5 and 7.5% increased the
farinograph water absorption. Fenugreek seed flour increased amylograph peak viscosity,
cold paste viscosity, break down and set back indicating its influence on pasting
characteristics of wheat flour. The strength of the dough decreased with the increase in
fenugreek powder.

Most of the studies of fenugreek enriched wheat based products deals with whole
fenugreek flour or dibittered and defatted flour or germinated fenugreek flour. Fenugreek
fractions utilization in wheat based products are not studied, which may give better
nutritional and functional products.

Scope of the present study

The roller milling involves breaking open the grain, gradual scraping the
endosperm from bran & germ by break rolls and then gradually reducing the chunk of the
endosperm into flour by a series of grindings with intermediate separation of products by
sifters and purifiers. Roller milling has the potential to fractionate the grain into various
streams with unique composition and functionality. The roller milling process has been
successfully used for the fractionation of the different grains and able to produce new and
nutritionally valuable fractions. Grain fractions enriched in various bioactive constituents
can be obtained through different processes such as chemical extraction and use them as
food ingredients. The other physical method is to fractionate grain by a chemical-free
process like roller milling.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is an annual crop belonging to the

legume family and known for its medicinal properties. Fenugreek seed is dicotyledonous
and consists of a wrinkled brown-yellow seed coat or the husk, enclosing two whitish
translucent endosperm halves mainly composed of a soluble galactomannan
polysaccharide. Between the two endosperm halves is sandwiched, a yellowish germ
portion, mainly composed of good quality of edible protein and fat. The isolated

Page 45
 Chapter 1

fenugreek fractions and fenugreek showed the hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic

properties in animal and human studies. The antidiabetic and hypocholesterolemic
activity of fenugreek has been attributed mainly to fenugreeks’ high fiber contents.

Roller milling, which is chemical free method produces numerous products of

highly variable composition, may be a more attractive commercial alternative. Literature
survey shows that fenugreek seed is not fractionated by roller milling into different
fractions and the fractions obtained by this processing yet not been standardized for
composition, quality, or terminology. Growing interest in using fenugreek fractions as
functional food ingredients, there is need to evaluate the roller milling potential of
fenugreek seeds and the study of distribution of nutrients in milled fractions obtained
from roller milling of fenugreek.

The research also needs to study the effect of addition of roller milled fiber-rich
fraction of fenugreek with refined wheat flour or whole wheat flour to develop the
fenugreek fiber enriched wheat based products that deliver additional health benefits.
Therefore, the present research work is taken to evaluate the roller milling fractionation
of fenugreek seeds and utilization of fiber-rich fraction for the development of wheat
based products to achieve the following three objectives:

Objectives

1. Development of roller milling process for the fractionation of fenugreek and

characterization of milled fractions and mill streams
2. To study the effect of replacement of fenugreek roller milled fiber-rich fraction on
wheat based products (bread, chapati, and pasta).
3. Validation of fenugreek fractions enriched wheat based products.

Page 46