Effects of Particle Size on the Quality of Winter Wheat Flour, with a Special Focus on Macro‐ and Microelement Concentration

Abstract

In countries with suitable conditions for growing winter wheat, there are millions of tons of poor‐baking‐quality wheat harvested every year. In this investigation, representative samples of low‐quality‐wheat lots were analyzed. The baking quality properties, protein, ash, and macro‐ and microelement concentrations were determined for different particle‐size fractions of flour. Flour fractions of different particle sizes sieved from the same flour samples yielded significantly different analyses for protein, ash, and macro‐ and microelements. It was determined that the particle fraction of 125–63 µm had better baking parameters than the original flour sample, and it constituted 32.5% of the total mass of the original amount of flour. In addition, the mineral‐element concentration was also found to be much higher than that of the original flour, which means that besides its better baking quality, it also had a higher nutritional value. The single, unmixed utilization of the 125‐ to 63‐µm flour fraction would mean more economic production for the baking industry and a higher value end product for the consumer. Based on our findings, we also recommend that in the chapters on materials and methods of the articles dealing with different kinds of flour, the authors should indicate the particle sizes of the flour samples analyzed because these may result in more objective evaluations of the readings.

Keywords:

• Baking quality
• microelement concentration
• particle size
• winter wheat flour

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by OTKA T038450, T042534, and T034213.