Industrial Roller Milling Process Characterisation for Targeted Bread Quality Optimization

Abstract

Out of all satisfying and palatable foods, wheat and other cereals play an essential role in human nutrition. In recent years, customers demand for functionalized flours with engineered properties contributing to well-being. This fuels the need for deeper understanding of the milling process and establishment of relationships between flour properties and product characteristics. To address this shortcoming, structural and functional aspects of starch and protein were investigated in all 33 flour passages obtained during the standard roller milling process of the most widely produced bread flour. Starch and protein alterations were examined on flour, dough and bread levels. Repeated milling cycles and higher impact towards tail-end passages result in compositional differences and increase in damaged starch. This creates weakened gluten networks exhibiting reduced elasticity and extensibility. Decreased viscoelasticity and hence gas-holding capacity result in low loaf volume. With multiple multivariate linear regression, a model could be established allowing for a 95% precise prediction of the loaf volume of the passages and composite flour produced with the same mill settings. This quality prediction of bread quality based on easily measurable parameters on flour levels offers a straightforward approach for a targeted optimization of the milling process.