Quality characteristics and bread-making properties of Korean whole wheat flour produced at different addition levels of wheat bran

Abstract

Whole wheat flour is produced by grinding wheat grains and blending each milling fraction such as wheat bran and white flour with no specific standard for the proportions. An exploration on classifying and utilizing Korean whole wheat flour is required to increase the practical use of many different types of Korean wheat flour products. This study aimed to examine factors for categorization and processability of Korean whole wheat flour by investigating quality characteristics and bread-making properties of Korean hard wheat flour samples produced with different levels of wheat bran (0% as control, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and whole grain wheat flour). The ash content of flour samples was divided into six gradational categories, which could be suggested as classification criteria for Korean whole wheat flour. The main parameters of dough and gelatinization properties of the flour samples exhibited downtrends, but nutritional constituents demonstrated uptrends with increasing bran addition level. The bread specific volume, hardness, chewiness, and brittleness of bread had strong correlations with dough stability and pasting parameters, which could be presented as significant factors for predicting bread-making properties of Korean whole wheat flour.