A bench-scale high-shear wet-milling test for wheat flour

Bench-scale wet-milling tests for wheat flour are available for the traditional processes of Martin and Batter, but tests for the high-shear processes of Alfa-Laval/Raisio, Hydrocyclone, and High-Pressure Disintegration are few in number. In this study, critical processing parameters of a high-shear wet-milling process, namely high-shear mixing, gluten-aging, and gluten-washing steps, were investigated using response surface methodology, and those parameters led to a bench-scale wet-milling test starting with a “highly sheared flour–water dispersion” (HS-FWD). Optimum conditions for the test were: a water–flour ratio (db) of 1.7, water temperature of 35 °C, and homogenizer speed of 6000 rpm for 2.0 min in the high-shear mixing step, a temperature of 40 °C for 20 min in the gluten-aging step, and gluten-washing of 2.0 min in the Glutomatic system. The HS-FWD wet-milling test with high level of repeatability was capable of discriminating wet-milling qualities of several hard, soft, and coarsely ground wheat flours.     

Wet-milling of wheat flour: industrial processes and small-scale test methods

Commercial manufacture of wheat starch and vital wheat gluten involves physical separation of starch granules and gluten particles formed in a neutral aqueous system. The wet-separation of gluten proteins and starch from wheat flour is based on their water insolubility, density, and particle size. Upon wetting, gluten proteins in wheat endosperm aggregate and form particles that are larger in size but less dense than starch granules. Wheat starch and vital gluten are currently produced industrially through wet-milling of wheat flour principally by four processes; the Martin, Alfa-Laval/Raisio, Hydrocyclone, and the High-Pressure Disintegration (HD) processes. The industrial processes differ mainly in the forms of the flour-water mixtures presented to the fractionation equipment (centrifuge, hydrocyclone, or screen) or in the initial separation practice of starch and gluten fractions from flour. However, the processes essentially merge into one as the intermediate starch and gluten-particle streams are purified to give >98% pure starch and ∼80% protein vital gluten. Handling of a second-grade starch stream, flour water-soluble, and fibrous residues may differ at various processing steps. Small-scale tests are available to assess the wet-milling quality of flours to be wet-processed by the Martin, Batter, Alfa-Laval/Raisio, and the HD processes. Yet, there are no laboratory tests reported for the Hydrocyclone process. Given the development of numerous new wheat varieties each year and of high-amylose and waxy wheats, it is important that small-scale wet-milling tests to assess the wet-milling quality and suitability of flour samples for the industrial processes be available.     

Characteristics of Volatile Compounds of Starches Extracted with Aqueous Solutions

Volatile compounds of wheat, corn, and potato starches were determined prior to and upon extraction of the starches with aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), ethanol, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Aqueous NaOH extraction was effective in reducing the level of total volatiles and removing certain volatiles from both wheat and corn starches without increasing the level of hexanal, an important lipid autoxidation product. However, the extraction did not considerably influence the composition and abundance of volatiles in potato starch. Aqueous ethanol extraction reduced the level of total volatiles only in wheat starch. Aqueous SDS extraction was not practical in the removal of volatiles from cereal starches. However, SDS extraction was effective in removing volatiles from potato starch, as well as reducing its hexanal level. It is evident that NaOH extraction is suitable for the removal of volatiles associated with cereal starches, whereas SDS extraction is more appropriate for tuber starches.