Bread Baking Quality Research Articles

Baking quality and starch digestibility in whole wheat bread based on protein enrichment strategy: Significance of protein-starch-water interaction in dough

Whole wheat bread has high nutritional value, but it is characterized by inferior quality and a high glycemic index. Studies have shown that the addition of exogenous protein can improve bread quality. The aim of this study was to determine how different protein combinations (gluten + other cereal proteins) alter dough properties. Based on these properties, we inferred the interactions of the major components (protein, starch, and water) and analyzed their effects on baking quality and starch digestibility of whole wheat bread. Alterations in mixing characteristics, rheological characteristics, and scanning electron microscopy images showed that the addition of large amounts of gluten strengthened the gluten network, whereas the addition of highland barley protein had little effect, and other added proteins caused damage. The addition of gluten improved bread quality tremendously, while the addition of other proteins negatively affected bread quality. All protein additions significantly reduced the in vitro starch digestibility (p < 0.05), with the bread containing highland barley protein showing the lowest estimated glycemic index (76.96) and an excellent baking quality. Therefore, highland barley protein can be selected as a partial substitute for gluten in whole wheat bread.

Effect of black bean supplemented with wheat bran sourdough fermentation by Pediococcus acidilactici or Pediococcus pentosaceus on baking quality and staling characteristics of wheat composite bread

The effects of black bean supplemented with wheat bran sourdough fermented by phytase and β-glucosidase producing Pediococcus acidilactici (L19) and Pediococcus pentosaceus (J28), respectively, on baking quality and staling characteristics of wheat composite bread were investigated. Compared to controls (12.21-15.33 mg/g), phytate content decreased (p < 0.05) in sourdoughs (higher decline in L19 than J28 sourdoughs). Also, relative to controls, the lactic acid (26.87-48.82 mg/g) and acetic acid (2.62-12.33 mg/g) increased (p < 0.05), while the total dietary fiber (TDF) decreased by 22.73 to 38.83 % and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) increased by 22.29 to 78.02 % in sourdoughs. In bread, phytate content decreased (p < 0.05) from 8.68-11.15 mg/g in controls to 0.95-3.21 mg/g in bread prepared with sourdoughs: greater decline in L19 than J28 sourdoughs with wheat bran and black bean. Compared to controls, SDF increased from 0.78-1.63 to 1.17-2.82 mg/g in breads prepared with sourdoughs: higher increase in J28 than L19 sourdoughs with wheat bran in black bean. Subsequently, specific volume increased, crumb firmness and chewiness reduced, staling rate during storage declined and overall sensory acceptance increased in breads prepared with sourdoughs than controls. Particularly, use of J28 than L19 starters and supplementation of wheat bran in black bean sourdough led to better outcomes. Therefore, sourdough acidification, the additive effect of wheat bran in black bean enhanced TDF in sourdough: this increased enzyme activity and synthesis of metabolites which were responsible for the improved baking quality, sensory acceptance and staling properties of breads prepared with sourdough. In conclusion, the use of carefully selected lactic acid bacteria starters, wheat bran supplementation in black bean flour sourdough improved the baking quality, shelf-life and staling properties of bread.

Effect of roselle and purple rice powder on baking quality and aroma characteristic of bread

The effects of different dosages of roselle flour (0 %, 4 %, and 8 %) and purple rice flour (5 %, 10 %, and 15 %) on the properties of the dough, the quality of the bread, the phenolic compounds contained, the anthocyanin content and the aroma profile were investigated by adding roselle flour and purple rice flour to the wheat flour. The results showed that the addition of purple rice flour elevated the G′ and G″ of the dough and improved the viscoelasticity of the bread. The addition of roselle flour disrupted the gluten network structure in the bread, resulting in an increase in chewiness and hardness, but within acceptable limits. The color of the bread also changed significantly. In addition, increased polyphenol content in the bread, roselle flour, and purple rice flour significantly (p < 0.05) increased the aroma profile of bread, giving it a richer odor. In particular, the presence of more acids, alkanes and heterocyclic compounds associated with fruity flavors also adds a distinctive burnt and ‘roasted’ note. Therefore, the addition of moderate amounts of roselle flour and purple rice flour was beneficial in improving the baking quality of bread, especially positively affecting the flavor.

Causal Artificial Intelligence Models of Food Quality Data.

Causal Artificial Intelligence Models of Food Quality Data.

Regulation of baking quality and starch digestibility in whole wheat bread based on β-glucans and protein addition strategy: Significance of protein-starch-water interaction in dough

Whole wheat bread has high nutritional value but is characterized by inferior quality and a high glycemic index. Studies have shown that adding β-glucans and protein can improve bread quality. This study investigated the effects of added oat β-glucan, barley β-glucan, or yeast β-glucan on protein synergy and whole wheat dough and bread quality. The mixing properties, rheological properties, and scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the addition of β-glucan promoted the formation of gluten networks, while the synergy between the wheat proteins and β-glucan resulted in a more robust and stable gluten network and a stronger physical starch envelope. Rapid visco-analysis and thermal property evaluations showed that β-glucan addition inhibited the thermal degradation, gelatinization, and retrogradation of starch. Based on the bread quality results, it was found the β-glucan could cause some damage to the bread baking quality. For example, the hardness of samples with oats, barley, and yeast increased to 881.69 g, 952.97 g, and 631.75 g, respectively, compared to samples without β-glucan (317.49 g), whereas the inclusion of yeast β-glucan proved to be less detrimental. Protein and β-glucan both reduced starch digestion to some degree, and showed better synergistic effects, with the lowest estimated glycemic index of 70.08 observed in bread containing added yeast β-glucan and protein. Therefore, yeast β-glucan and protein mixtures could be selected as viable formulations for enhancing the quality of whole wheat bread.

Identifying cis-Acting Elements Associated with the High Activity and Endosperm Specificity of the Promoters of Genes Encoding Low-Molecular-Weight Glutenin Subunits in Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GSs) associated with bread-baking quality and flour nutrient quality accumulate in endosperms of common wheat and related species. However, the mechanism underlying the expression regulation of genes encoding LMW-GSs has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we identified LMW-D2 and LMW-D7, which are highly and weakly expressed, respectively, via the analysis of RNA-sequencing data of Chinese Spring wheat and wheat transgenic lines transformed with 5' deletion promoter fragments and GUS fusion constructs. The 605-bp fragment upstream of the LMW-D2 start codon could drive high levels of GUS expression in the endosperm. The truncated endosperm box located at the -300 site resulted in the loss of LMW-D2 promoter activity, and a single-nucleotide polymorphism on the GCN4 motif was closely related to the expression of LMW-GSs. TCT and TGACG motifs, as well as the others located on the 5' distal end, might also be involved in the transcription regulation of LMW-GSs. In transgenic lines, fusion proteins of LMW-GS and GUS were deposited into protein bodies. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanism underlying the transcription regulation of LMW-GSs and will contribute to the development of wheat endosperm as a bioreactor for the production of nutraceuticals, antibodies, vaccines, and medicinal proteins.

Flatbread baking process under time-varying input power in a home-scale electric oven: 3D CFD simulation with experimental validation

This study investigates the flatbread baking process in a home-scale electric oven by developing a three-dimensional transient numerical model using the finite volume method along with the discrete ordinates (DO) model, evaporation–condensation mechanism, and realizable k-ε model for the turbulent regime through the oven chamber. The validity of the proposed numerical model has been examined through a comparison with experimental data provided in this study, considering both scenarios with and without bread in the oven, where good agreement is observed between the numerical and experimental findings. Using the validated model, a qualitative and quantitative analysis is performed to study the flatbread baking process, focusing on temperature distribution within the oven and the bread as well as the degree of starch gelatinization during the baking process. The consideration of input power patterns is crucial in terms of both energy consumption and bread quality, making it imperative for electric oven designers. Consequently, under a fixed energy consumption of the oven, various time-varying input powers are employed to assess the bread baking process. For this purpose, six different scenarios are designed including constant elements power, linear/stepwise increase/decrease in elements power, and ON/OFF modes with constant power. The results demonstrate that employing time-varying input power profiles characterized by linear and stepwise decrease yields superior performance to control the baking process and quality of bread. However, preheating the oven prior to dough baking could potentially mitigate the impact of the input power profile type on the resulting final product.

Maintenance of UK bread baking quality: Trends in wheat quality traits over 50 years of breeding and potential for future application of genomic-assisted selection.

Improved selection of wheat varieties with high end-use quality contributes to sustainable food systems by ensuring productive crops are suitable for human consumption end-uses. Here, we investigated the genetic control and genomic prediction of milling and baking quality traits in a panel of 379 historic and elite, high-quality UK bread wheat (Triticum eastivum L.) varieties and breeding lines. Analysis of the panel showed that genetic diversity has not declined over recent decades of selective breeding while phenotypic analysis found a clear trend of increased loaf baking quality of modern milling wheats despite declining grain protein content. Genome-wide association analysis identified 24 quantitative trait loci (QTL) across all quality traits, many of which had pleiotropic effects. Changes in the frequency of positive alleles of QTL over recent decades reflected trends in trait variation and reveal where progress has historically been made for improved baking quality traits. It also demonstrates opportunities for marker-assisted selection for traits such as Hagberg falling number and specific weight that do not appear to have been improved by recent decades of phenotypic selection. We demonstrate that applying genomic prediction in a commercial wheat breeding program for expensive late-stage loaf baking quality traits outperforms phenotypic selection based on early-stage predictive quality traits. Finally, trait-assisted genomic prediction combining both phenotypic and genomic selection enabled slightly higher prediction accuracy, but genomic prediction alone was the most cost-effective selection strategy considering genotyping and phenotyping costs per sample.

Aegilops sharonensis HMW-GSs with unusually large molecular weight improves bread-making quality in wheat-Ae. sharonensis introgression lines.

Eighteen wheat (Triticum aestivum-Aegilops sharonensis) introgression lines were generated in the previous study. These lines possessed four types of high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) combinations consisting of one glutenin from Ae. sharonensis (Glu-1Ssh ) plus one or more HMW-GSs from common wheat (Glu-A1, Glu-B1, or Glu-D1). In this study, we conducted quality tests to explore the effects of 1Ssh x2.3 and 1Ssh y2.9 on the processing quality of 18 wheat-Aegilops sharonensis introgression lines. Our data showed that the 1Ssh x2.3 and 1Ssh y2.9 subunits had a positive effect on gluten and baking quality. The bread volume of all these lines was higher than that of the parental wheat line LM3. In these lines, the HMW-GS content and the HMW/LMW ratio of 66-36-11 were higher than those of LM3, and the 66-36-11 line exhibited greatly improved quality parameters in comparison with the parent LM3. These results demonstrated that the 1Ssh x2.3 and 1Ssh y2.9 subunits from Ae. sharonensis contributed immensely to gluten strength and bread-baking quality, and proved a positive relationship between the HMW-GS sizes and their effects on dough strength in vivo. The materials developed could be used by breeding programs aiming to increase bread-making quality. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of Freezing Wheat Dough Enriched with Calcium Salts with/without Inulin on Bread Quality.

Bread is a popular food that is widely consumed worldwide but has a short shelf life. Besides that, when incorporating prebiotics and calcium, aging mechanisms accelerate, further shortening the shelf-life. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of freezing storage on the rheological (loss tangent, tan δ) and thermal (glass transition temperature, Tg) properties of unfrozen dough, the fermentation times (tf), and the baking quality of wheat bread fortified with calcium and inulin. Formulations studied included wheat flour (control-C), flour with 1800 ppm Ca (calcium carbonate-CA, calcium citrate-CI or calcium lactate-LA), and flour with 2400 ppm Ca and 12% inulin (calcium carbonate-CA-In, calcium citrate-CI-In or calcium lactate-LA-In). Doughs were stored at −18 °C for 1, 7, 30 and 60 days. After storage, the rheological (oscillatory rheometry and texture profile analysis) and thermomechanical properties of the thawed doughs were measured. The quality parameters of breads determined consisted of specific volume (Vs), color, moisture, firmness, elasticity, and alveoli size characterization. Dough freezing neither changed viscoelasticity (tan δ) nor decreased hardness and adhesiveness up to the values observed for fresh wheat dough. The Tg of dough with calcium carbonate increased, while for samples with organic calcium salts, it (citrate and lactate) decreased. The tf of thawed dough significantly increased. The Vs of all breads did not change during the first 30 days but decreased after freezing the dough for 60 days (p < 0.05), probably due to the death of the yeasts. Crumb moisture decreased over time, and in all cases crumb C had the highest moisture content, suggesting a dehydration effect of the calcium salt. The firmness of CA, LA and C crumbs were similar and higher than that of CI (p < 0.05), suggesting a destabilizing effect of CI anion on gluten proteins. Inulin contributed to the depreciation of bread quality, mainly at 60 days of dough freezing storage. It can be concluded that during freezing storage, calcium improves the dynamic elasticity of the dough, although under extreme conditions it generates loaves of smaller volume. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained 66.5% of total variance. Principal component 1 (PC1) was associated with dough properties, and accounted for 44.8% of the total variance. In turn, PC2 was mainly related to baking quality parameters (fermentation time, browning index, firmness and springiness of crumbs), and explained 21.7% of the total variance. Fortification with calcium citrate should be recommended for dough freezing, as breads with softer crumbs were obtained under such conditions.

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of 1Dx-type HMW-GS genes from different wheat varieties

AbstractHigh-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) contribute to dough elasticity and bread baking quality in wheat. In this study, wheat varieties were classified based on their HMW-GS composition into three groups: 1Dx5 (5 + 10, Gaoyou 8901, Xinmai 28, Xinmai 19, Xinmai 26 and Jinbaoyin), 1Dx2 (2 + 12, Zhoumai 24, Xinmai 9 and Yumai) and 1Dx4 (4 + 12, Aikang 58). Sequence analysis showed that 1Dx-GY8901, 1Dx-XM28, 1Dx-XM19 and 1Dx-XM26 were similar to the 1Dx5 gene and clustered on the same branch, while 1Dx-AK58, 1Dx-ZM24, 1Dx-JBY, 1Dx-YM, 1Dx-XM9 and 1Dx-JBY were more similar to the 1Dx2 gene and clustered on the same branch with 1Dx.2.2. There was a mutation of Ser to Cys at position S2, for an extra Cys in the repeat regions of 1Dx-XM19, 1Dx-XM26, 1Dx-XM28 and 1Dx-GY8901. The wheat HMW-GS genes exhibited similar percentages of α-helix, extended strand, β-turn and random coil structure, with ranges of 13.33–13.59, 4.77–5.78, 7.08–9.18 and 72.3–73.94%, respectively. Sequence conservation and the composition of HMW-GS subunits were also analysed for a series of strong gluten wheat varieties, Xinmai 9 (1, 7 + 8, 2 + 12), Xinmai 19 (1, 7 + 9, 5 + 10), Xinmai 26 (1, 7 + 8, 5 + 10) and Xinmai 28 (1, 7 + 9, 5 + 10). The results of this work should facilitate future breeding efforts and provide the theoretical basis for wheat quality improvement.

EVALUATING SPLIT TIMING FERTILIZER APPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVING BREAD BAKING QUALITY OF SOFT RED WINTER WHEAT IN KENTUCKY

There is growing interest among farmers to locally produce high protein and strong gluten wheat that is suitable for bread making and meet the demand of local artisanal bakers in Kentucky. The warm and humid weather in southeast region is ideal for soft red winter wheat (SRW) production which characterized by low protein content. The technique of splitting nitrogen (N) fertilization according to the growth stages has been suggested to improve protein content and its composition. This study evaluated the effect of split N application on yield and baking quality traits of two SRW wheat cultivars grown in the eastern U.S. region in conventional and organic cropping systems. One landrace (Purple Straw) and one modern cultivar (Pembroke 2014 ) were grown under three split N application treatments (ST1, ST2 and ST3). Late N applications (ST3) significantly increased protein content for both years by 5.45% and 6.11% respectively compared to a single application; however, this treatment decreased yield. Cropping system had consistent effects in that conventional system exceeded organic system except for thousand kernel weight. Conventional system had greater yield by 16.11% and 20.17% respectively for both years than organic system. Similarly, sedimentation value (a baking quality trait) was greater by 14.27% and 11.12% respectively in conventional than organic system. This study has generally found improvement in protein content by N application on soft red winter wheat. In addition, more studies should be done in organic system to examine other baking quality traits.

Effect of Biofertilizer in Organic and Conventional Systems on Growth, Yield and Baking Quality of Hard Red Winter Wheat

A two-year study (harvest years 2019 and 2020) was conducted to investigate the effect of a commercially available biofertilizer, in combination with variable nitrogen (N) rate, on bread baking quality and agronomic traits in hard winter wheat grown in conventional (CONV) and organic (ORG) farming systems in Kentucky, USA. The hard red winter wheat cultivar ‘Vision 45’ was used with three N rates (44, 89.6 and 134.5 kg/ha as Low, Med and High, respectively) and three biofertilizer spray regimes (no spray, one spray and two sprays). All traits measured were significantly affected by the agricultural production system (CONV or ORG) and N rate, although trends in their interactions were inconsistent between years. In Y2, yield was greatest in treatments with high N rates and in the ORG system. Biofertilizer treatments had a negative to neutral effect on grain yield. Baking quality traits such as protein content, lactic acid solvent retention capacity and sedimentation value (SV) were consistently greater in the CONV system and increased with the higher N application rates. Similarly, biofertilizer application had no effect on predictive baking quality traits, except for SV in year 1 of the study, where it increased with two sprays. Loaf volume was consistently greater from wheat grown in CONV treatments. From these results, we conclude that further research is warranted to evaluate the potential for biofertilizers to enhance N uptake and affect bread baking quality or other end-use traits. Additional research may be especially useful in organic production systems where biologically based N fertilizers are utilized, and treatments were not negatively affected by biofertilizer applications. Such strategies may be needed to increase protein quantity and gluten quality to optimize winter wheat production for bread baking qualities in the southeastern USA.

Impact of Nitrogen Rate in Conventional and Organic Production Systems on Yield and Bread Baking Quality of Soft Red Winter Wheat

Soft red winter wheat (SRW) is characterized by high yield and relatively low protein content. In Kentucky, there is growing demand from local artisan bread bakers for regionally produced flour, requiring production of grain with increased protein content and/or strength. The objective of this two-year field experiment was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N) management on five cultivars of winter wheat on yield and bread baking quality traits of modern and landrace SRW cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.). All five cultivars were evaluated using two N application rates in conventional and organic production systems. All traits measured were significantly affected by the agricultural production system and N rate, although plant height and other quality traits varied by study year. Significantly higher yields were achieved in the conventional system at a relatively low N rate (67.2 kg ha−1) in both study years (2017–2019) (p &lt; 0.01). Results were variable by cultivar and a locally bred, high-yielding cultivar (Pembroke 2014) had the highest lactic acid solvent retention capacity score and thousand kernel weight of the cultivars evaluated. In addition, a landrace cultivar (Purple Straw) had the highest grain N and plant height. A French soft wheat, Soissons, had the highest sedimentation value and Pembroke 2016 achieved the highest yield. The findings from this study suggest the possibility of attaining a desirable grain with quality traits of SRW wheat that meets the needs of local bread wheat production in Kentucky through improving the optimization of cultivar selection, N management and specific considerations for conventional and organic systems.

Determination of soluble wheat protein fractions using the Bradford assay

AbstractBackground and objectivesDetermination of different grain protein fractions in wheat cultivars is an important task in analyzing bread baking quality. In many laboratories, the Bradford assay is used to determine protein concentrations in solutions. In any protein assay (including Bradford), the ideal protein to use as a standard is the purified protein being assayed. In the absence of such an absolute reference, protein another protein must be selected as a relative standard such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) which is widely used. The aim of this work was to find conversion factors for BSA to determine correct albumin–globulin, gliadin, and glutenin concentrations, because these purified wheat grain protein fractions are mostly not available to be used for calibration purposes.FindingsIn case of BSA calibration, gluten concentration was underestimated (50%–54%) compared to calibration with the respective purified wheat proteins (65%–70%) in extracts of wheat grain samples. This result is explained with the different amino acid composition of BSA and wheat protein fractions leading to a more intense signal with BSA in the Bradford assay. Calibration of the Bradford assay using BSA as well as purified wheat protein fractions allowed to calculate the conversion factors of 2.11 for BSA/albumin–globulin, 4.25 for BSA/gliadin, and 3.42 for BSA/glutenin. Application of these conversion factors proved to accurately adjust protein concentrations of wheat fractions originating from ten cultivars, determined with BSA calibration of the Bradford assay.ConclusionsBSA calibration of the Bradford assay in combination with the conversion factors can be used to determine protein concentration of wheat grain fractions.Significance and noveltyFindings of this study make a contribution toward the correction of a common method, to provide a basis for better comparability of research results from different laboratories.

Influence of Durum Wheat Bran Particle Size on Phytochemical Content and on Leavened Bread Baking Quality.

Wheat bran is a conventional by-product of the wheat milling industry mainly used for animal feed. It is a rich and inexpensive source of phytonutrients, so is in demand for fibre-rich food products but creates quality issues when incorporated into bread. The purpose of this study was to characterize the physicochemical properties and phytochemical composition of different size durum bran fractions and show how they impact bread quality. Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) was milled to create a coarse bran fraction (CB), which was further ground into a finer fraction (FB) which was sieved using four screens with apertures 425, 315, 250, 180, and <180 µm to create a particle size range of 1497 to 115 µm. All fractions contained phytosterol with highest in the 180 and FB, while total phenolic acids and antioxidant capacity was highest in CB and 425. Use of the fractions in a leavened common wheat (T. aestivum L.) bread formula at 10% incorporation negatively impacted bread loaf volume, colour, and texture compared to standard loaves, with CB having the least impact. Results suggest that to combine the highest phytochemical content with minimal impact on bread quality, bran particle size should be considered, with CB being the best choice.

Impacts of Slow Juicer Residue Using Orange on Baking Quality of Gluten-Free Rice Flour Bread

Impacts of Slow Juicer Residue Using Orange on Baking Quality of Gluten-Free Rice Flour Bread

The efficacy of sorghum flour addition on dough rheological properties and bread quality: A short review

The baking quality of sorghum-wheat bread is equally reliant on the quantity and the quality of protein existent in the composite flours. A lot of procedures have been proposed for expanding the use of sorghum either as a composite flour blended with wheat or potentially as a straight flour. In any case, the amount of flour that can be subbed is up to a specific degree of sorghum flour to deliver sensory attractive products. The manipulation of the chemical composition, textural properties of the sorghum kernel, and selection of a proper hybrid could proffer desirable value addition results in bread making. The quality of the flour and the adherence to acceptable flour size standards is the key to producing good quality bread. In this paper, the effects of adding sorghum flour on dough rheological properties and the quality of bread were discussed in detail. • Increase in sorghum substitution has adverse effects dough rheological properties. • A higher pasting temperature needs a higher temperature for baking. • Starch degradation is important in the bread formation in the absence of a gluten network. • Sorghum kafirin proteins hydrophobicity makes them inaccessible for participation in dough fibril formations.

Effect of amylose content in rice flour on batter rheology and bread baking quality

The effect of amylose content in rice batter without wheat on the baking quality and rheological property of rice bread was assessed. Bread was made with waxy and non‐waxy rice flours of similar amylopectin structure at various mixing ratios. The quality of rice bread was evaluated by the expansion ratio. The use of rice flours with similar amylopectin structure controls for the effect of differences in amylopectin structure caused by mixing different rice types. The expansion ratio of bread increased in a rice flour amylose content‐dependent manner. Rheological data showed that high viscosity batters maintained the foam structure generated during proofing, which was related to the high amylose content of the rice flour. An iodine coloration experiment confirmed that the origin of the high viscosity of high amylose rice batters was the elution of amylose into the water surrounding the rice particles in the batter. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In this study, rice bread was made without additives. The batter was made by mixing waxy and non‐waxy rice flours. Storage modulus of the batter was affected by alterations in the mixing ratio of rice flours. Storage modulus of the batter showed a tendency to increase as the ratio of non‐waxy rice increased. The use of high amylose rice flours allowed for the rice batter to be proofed and processed as bread. Practical application of this study is the development of various gluten‐free foods such as bread, pasta, and pizza using rice flour without wheat.

Addressing the challenges of new decentralized flour mills in alternative agriculture and food systems: a study on grain aging prior to whole wheat milling

ABSTRACTEntrepreneurship in grain infrastructure has emerged in the development of new wheat supply chains from farm to market to support alternative agriculture and food systems. This includes the establishment of flour mills with the ability to preserve the identity of small batches of flour, mediate flour quality and safety, and retain processing and value within rural communities. Yet new decentralized flour mills may lack adequate space and environmental controls and refrain from pesticide treatments necessary for long-term grain storage and aging prior to milling. The relationship between grain aging and whole wheat bread baking quality under informal storage conditions was evaluated using factor and multiple regression analyses. The results indicated that aging correlates positively with whole wheat bread baking quality over 1 year of storage. Growing location, growing year and their interaction, however, were better predictors of quality. These results suggest when storage space and environmental controls are limited, blending grain by growing location could be a more effective and practical method to improve quality than grain aging or blending by growing year, which both necessitate long-term storage. Blending by location may strain definitions of regional or local in some alternative systems.