EH 551 Other foods

Wheat

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 1. Cereals
Cereals are the seeds of the plant of the grass family
They consist mainly of starch with a small percentage of
protein and minerals such as calcium, magnesium,
potassium and iron
There is a hard indigestible outer covering called the husk
and the seed is contained within
The husk contains much of the minerals and vitamin
content, thus whole-meal flour is more nutritious than white
flour which does not contain husk

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 Cont.
The minute granules starch has characteristic shapes
and sizes depending upon the particular cereal grain
from which they are obtained
Thus microscopic examination can easily reveal to an
expert any adulteration of the higher grade flour by
inferior flour

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 2. Wheat
The structure of the grain of wheat consists of bran
layers (husk), the endosperm which is the edible seed
within and the germ or embryo which would germinate
in the next generation plan

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 Wheat seed

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 Milling of wheat
Most of the wheat produced in the world is made into flour
The whole process of milling wheat is designed to extract
as much of the endosperm as possible with as little of the
bran as possible simply by breaking the grain until most of
the endosperm can be released
But a small % remains attached to the bran
The remainder of the milling process is the separation of
this endosperm from the bran and its conversion into flour

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 Cont.
Before the wheat goes to the miller, the germ is removed
since it contains a large proportion of oil matter which could
cause rancidity during storage
At the mill, the grain is sieved to separate the grain from
larger or smaller foreign particles, it is then washed in running
water and centrifuged dry
Next it is conditioned i.e. given the right moisture content
either by drying or damping the grain
This makes the separation of endosperm easier and gives the
flour the correct moisture content

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 Cont.
Then the grain of wheat are broken in the meal by
pairs of corrugated rollers which rotate in opposite
direction with a relative speed differential of 2½ to 1,
this action shears the bran from the endosperm
There are 5 or 6 successive “break rolls” and between
sets, are the vibrating sieves called “scalpers”

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 Shearing process of the bran from the
endosperm

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 Cont.
 The middling’s go to a purifier where an air current removes
any bran particles
 The bran is usually sold for animal feed unless whole-meal
flour is being made in which case it is sent back to the flour
 The residual of the mealie meal and course flour then goes
through a reduction process being passed between smooth
rollers where speed ratio at 1½ to 1
 There are 10 - 15 sets of rollers and clearance between the
rollers is reduced from one set to the next so that the in-put is
reduced to colour particles of uniform size

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 Cont.
The efficiency of the milling is expressed as an extraction
rate
Plain white flour is usually around 80% extraction rate i.e.
100 tons of wheat will yield 80 tons of white flour
Above 81% extraction rate there will be some bran with
flour; this flour is termed “Wheat-meal”
About 90% extraction rate is termed “whole-meal flour”,
extraction rate never exceed 95% as the remaining 5% is very
course bran

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 Cont.
 The next stage is additional of creta preparata
 A special chalk added to all flour other than whole-meal at
the rate of 235 – 390mg/100 grams of flour
 This is done to sublimate the calcium content
 During storage phytic acid is formed which impairs with
natural calcium making it unavailable during digestion
 The following are also added:
 Vitamin B, = 0.24mg/100g
 Vitamin B2 =1.6mg/100g
 Iron = 1.65 mg/100g

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 Ageing of wheat
 To improve its keeping quality flour is often stored for
several weeks; this makes it whiter and protein become
much stronger
 To avoid the necessity of having several weeks of storage
of flour on a premises, millers now add the improvers
which gives much shorter time e.g.
 Ammonium per sulphate 200 ppm
 Chorine 400 ppm
 Nitrogen Trichloride
 Chlorine dioxide
 Potassium bromate20 ppm (Not recommended in Zambia)

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 Cont.
 The flour may also be bleached to remove some
yellow colour caused by a pigment carotene
 Substitutes are:
 Nitrogen peroxide
 Chlorine
 Nitrogen trichloride
 Benzoyl peroxide

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 Cont.
Chlorine, nitrogen trichloride and chlorine dioxide are
combined as bleachers
Nitrogen trichloride was very popular until it was proved to
cause running fits and diphtheria in dogs (Agene process)
This is now replaced by the diox process in which chlorine
dioxide is added to flour at the rate of 35 ppm
After bleaching the flour is passed through an entolete to kill
any insects, eggs, etc. remaining in it
Two horizontal plates carrying concentric rings of hardened
steel plates

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 Cont.
The bottom plate is stationary; the top plate rotates at 3000 –
7,500 RPM (rounds per minute) flour is fed through the centre
of the revolving plate
Centrifugal force it outwards where it impacts on two sets of
rotors and takes a hell of pressure
This effectively destroys all form of insect life in the flour
especially eggs which were not crushed during the process
Finally flour is packed into sack

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 Concentric rings of hardened steel plates

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 Qualities of good flour
White in colour
A faint tinge of yellow if not subjected to bleaching
When pressed between the fingers, it should adhere to
them
It should not be moist or taste acid
It should not contain alum – which may be added as an
adulterant in order to avoid gluten decomposition

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 Qualities of bad flour
Yellowish in colour and possess a sour taste/smell
It feels sticky and is lumpy
Dampness due to gluten decomposition
Sacks while in transit may be damaged by water rendering
it unfit for human consumption, but fit for animal feed
Infestation with weevils and insects plus their excrements
May be adulterated with alum

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 Properties of flour
The nitrogenous content of wheat consists of protein,
gliadin and glutelin the combination being known as
gluten
When water is added to the flour it is gliadin which
produces characteristic stickiness of the resultant
dough which makes it relatively well adopted for bread
making

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 Cont.
 Normal flours contains about 7 - 8% gluten while certain
hard wheat of haly give a flour of up to 11% gluten content
 When water is added to this flour it makes a thick paste
which dries to form a brittle sheet
 It is from this flour that pasta flour is made e.g.
 Macaroni
 Spaghetti
 Vermicelli
 Tagliatalle

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 Cont.
 A good plain flour is white in colour but it may have a slight
yellow colour if it has not been bleached
 When pressed between the fingers it should adhere to them
 It should not be moist or taste acidic
 Bad flour is yellowish in colour with a sour smell and a
sticky feel
 Dampness is a frequent cause of gluten decomposer
 Self raising flour contains sodium bicarbonate, tartaric
powder) which with water generate C02 into the dough to
aerate it

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 End

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