Abstract
Among cereals grains, wheat has high potential to produce gluten protein that imparts strength and elasticity to the dough that inuences the texture of bakery products. Storage temperature has been shown to aect the quality attributes of wheat our but only a few research studies were conducted to assess the in uence of storage conditions on wheat our properties. Therefore, a study was carried out to evaluate the in uence of storage temperature on the quality characteristics of the wheat our during short term storage. The freshly milled wheat our from Prima Ceylon Private Ltd, Trincomalee were stored for 8 weeks at room temperature (35oC and the Relative Humidity of 50-60%) and air conditioned temperature (270 C and the Relative Humidity of 60-70%). The quality characteristics such as moisture, wet gluten, gluten index and ash content and biological characteristics of weevils count and total bacterial count of our samples were evaluated at 2 weeks interval during the storage period. Moisture content decreased signicantly (p<0.05 ) with the storage duration at both storage temperatures. Visco-elastic properties such as wet gluten and gluten index of our samples decreased during storage and more markedly aecting the our quality at room temperature storage. Biological and microbiological characteristics were in uenced by storage temperature since the water activity was the main factor in uencing their survival. Based on the study, the quality characteristics of wheat our were better preserved during storage at air conditioned temperature of 270C with 60-70% Relative Humidity compared to room temperature of 350C with 50-60% Relative Humidity.
Highlights
Wheat flour is a dynamic product with both constituent and functional requirements
Wheat flour quality is directly related to the wheat gluten formed by mixing the flour with water and with the use of appropriate application of mechanical work to form a visco-elastic network [Raza et al, 2010], whose structure is the basis for bakery and pasta products
After 8 weeks, the moisture content of these samples was decreased to a 12.2% under room temperature storage and 13.0% under air conditioned storage, respectively
Summary
Wheat flour is a dynamic product with both constituent and functional requirements. The uses of flour are many and varied. The kinds of flour used in cooking include all-purpose flour, self-rising flour, and cake flour including bleached flour. Constituents such as protein and ash generally dictate the end-use of flour. The important quality parameters for wheat flour performance are moisture, wet gluten, gluten index, ash, weevils count and flour microbiology. These parameters are the indicators of milling performance and flour quality of the wheat flour. Wheat flour quality is directly related to the wheat gluten formed by mixing the flour with water and with the use of appropriate application of mechanical work to form a visco-elastic network [Raza et al, 2010], whose structure is the basis for bakery and pasta products
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