Four key technologies that must be mastered in wheat flour production

Flour refers to wheat flour produced for specific purposes based on the processing technology and quality requirements of a certain type of noodle food.The annual flour processing volume in China is about 60 million tons, with flour accounting for only about 15%, while the proportion of flour in developed countries is as high as over 90%.

With the rapid development of China's food industry and catering industry, the demand for noodles in the market is increasing, and production is also receiving more and more attention.

The development of flour in China started late, with few varieties and outdated production processes. Moreover, due to the diversity of wheat varieties and regional consumption differences, the production of high-grade flour in China is difficult. Grasping the technical key to producing flour, establishing a sound quality control and research and development system, fully understanding market demand and specific consumption habits, selecting appropriate raw wheat, and adopting advanced flour production technology can help flour processing enterprises overcome the difficulties of complex raw material quality and numerous consumption habits, and produce stable flour.

China has a food culture with thousands of years of history and a rich variety of noodle products. However, there are few varieties and poor stability of noodles in our country, and there is a gap with developed countries in terms of variety, quantity, and function.

At present, the main methods of flour production include: wheat blending method, online flour blending method, and flour blending warehouse flour blending method. Although the degree of flour blending method is high, due to its high cost, most domestic enterprises use a combination of wheat blending method and online flour blending method to produce flour, and even some enterprises use a type of wheat directly to produce flour using online flour blending method. Therefore, it is particularly important to control the key technical points for domestic flour processing enterprises with incomplete flour blending facilities.

The key technology of powder production mainly lies in: mastering the raw material control; Strict production process management; Powder modification; Quality control R&D and after-sales service system.

Control the quality of raw materials

One is to choose the raw material wheat reasonably.

The success or failure of raw grain selection and utilization is the key to flour production. The production of flour for processing Mantou, noodles and dumplings is the mainstream of flour production in China. Therefore, when selecting raw wheat, while considering factors such as sufficient supply and price, appropriate raw wheat should be selected according to the quality characteristics of wheat in different regions of China. Conditional enterprises can start with breeding and cultivation, strengthen the construction of wheat production bases, and cultivate wheat that meets the quality requirements of regional characteristic foods.

The second is to comprehensively evaluate the flour milling performance and edible quality of wheat, and establish a comprehensive wheat quality evaluation system.

Before conducting flour production, it is necessary to conduct comprehensive quality testing on the raw wheat and conduct experimental flour and food production evaluations to provide a scientific basis for wheat blending.

The evaluation of wheat quality mainly includes:

Wheat grain quality

Including thousand grain weight, bulk density, keratinization rate, hardness, etc. The quality of wheat grains is closely related to the milling quality and edible quality, especially the milling quality such as flour yield, flour ash content, and whiteness.

The protein quality of wheat

Including protein quantity and quality. The protein quantity refers to the protein content and gluten quantity, and the protein quality indicators include sedimentation value, gluten index, Bursick constant, etc.

Starch characteristics and amylase activity of wheat grains

More than 75% of wheat endosperm is starch, and the edible quality of flour is largely influenced by starch gelatinization characteristics and amylase activity. The evaluation of starch characteristics mainly uses viscosity curve and damaged starch content determination, while the evaluation of amylase activity is generally determined by falling number measurement.

Rheological properties of dough

Including powder properties, tensile properties, etc. The quality of noodle food production. Food production evaluation is a direct method for testing the quality of wheat.

Thirdly, conduct correlation analysis on wheat quality, intermediate products, flour quality, and food quality.

Analyze and test various indicators of wheat that may be used, establish a wheat archive, including origin, variety, various quality indicators, and adaptability to different noodle foods, to provide basic data for raw material selection. By analyzing the quality indicators of actual flour production, the correlation between wheat quality indicators and actual flour quality indicators can be obtained, which enables the prediction of flour quality based on raw material quality. By analyzing the correlation between wheat quality and noodle food quality, the correlation between wheat quality and food quality can be identified. Based on wheat quality, food quality can be predicted, and targeted selection of raw wheat can be made according to customer requirements for food quality, providing reference for raw material procurement.

Strictly control the production process management

Grading and impurity removal

Removing impurities and adhesions from wheat is crucial for ensuring flour quality, and the grading function is often overlooked in actual production. When producing high-grade flour, wheat grading technology is combined with clean production, using surface pesticides, insect eggs, and microbial removal technology on wheat, sorting technology for harmful substances such as moldy grains and mouse manure, and grading technology for inferior wheat such as insect eaten grains and deflated wheat to ensure the quality and cleanliness of flour.

Wheat blending and tempering

For flour mills without a flour blending system, a complete wheat blending process is necessary. For wheat with small differences in moisture and hardness, rough wheat blending can be used, while for wheat with large differences in moisture and hardness (especially when paired with regular wheat), smooth wheat blending can be used to ensure the moisture conditioning effect. Wheat pairing is essential to ensure the quality of flour and product stability.

Tempering is the key to ensuring the quality of flour.At present, most flour mills determine the amount of water added based on product moisture and processing water consumption. This method cannot guarantee that wheat will reach the grinding moisture, especially when producing high gluten wheat flour, which will seriously affect the yield and quality of flour. For flour production lines with flour dewatering facilities, the principle should be to ensure that the moisture content entering the mill is suitable for the processing requirements. In addition, microorganisms breed and multiply rapidly during the tempering process, which has a significant impact on the quality of flour and product cleanliness and safety. Therefore, appropriate tempering methods and means should be selected according to the quality of wheat, reducing tempering time and microbial activity. Purified water should be used for tempering to prevent external pollution sources from intervening and ensure the quality and cleanliness of flour.

Flour milling process

The flour milling process should be determined according to the type and structure of the product. Generally speaking, the principle of quality grading and increasing the difference in flour flow quality should be followed. Wheat grading processing technology, strengthened material grading technology, material purification technology, and special processing technology for fine materials should be used to ensure the milling effect. Evaluate the physicochemical properties, appearance quality, dough rheological characteristics, and edible quality of various flour streams to provide a foundation for online flour blending.

post-processing technique

The flour post-treatment system is crucial for flour production. Compared with the wheat blending method, the flour blending method has the advantages of high utilization rate of raw grains, multiple ratios and easy operation, stable production process, accurate trace addition, and stable product quality. The post-treatment process must be used flexibly. For powders with low accuracy requirements, coarse blending can be used, while fine blending must be used. For micro addition, pre mixing technology should be used. The pre configured flour should avoid grading during transportation, and industrial flour should be distributed in bulk as much as possible.

Pay attention to powder modification

Powder modification mainly includes quality improvement and nutritional enhancement.

Quality improvement is the purposeful adjustment, improvement, and perfection of powder quality through physical, chemical, biological, or other means, to make it more suitable for the requirements of food quality.

Nutritional enhancement is a method of improving the nutritional quality of wheat flour by adding nutrients (lost in processing or lacking in itself). When modifying flour, it is necessary to choose the appropriate modification method based on the inherent defects of the flour, ensuring accurate and even addition, and preventing grading after addition; Do not prohibit the use or excessive use of additives to ensure food safety; Nutritional fortification should be used without affecting the quality of powder consumption.

Improve quality control research and development facilities and systems

The establishment of quality control research and development facilities and systems is a necessary condition for the production of flour. Quality control research and development runs through the entire flour production process, from product development, raw grain selection, process quality control, flour modification, ratio optimization, to product quality and food quality. Every link cannot be separated from quality control research and development. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a technically proficient quality control research and development team. The flour market generally faces end customers, whether they are workshops or food processing enterprises. They must provide timely feedback on service requirements caused by fluctuations in flour quality in order to further optimize solutions, develop new products, and improve or stabilize flour quality.

In summary, powder production requires the following conditions:

Wheat that is suitable for the quality of the flour produced; Having modern quality control research and development facilities and a high-quality quality control research and development team; Having a reasonable production process, production facilities, and production technology management team; Adopting scientifically reasonable wheat flour post-treatment processes and necessary additive modification techniques; Having a scientific quality control system and a comprehensive market service system. Grasping the key technical control points of flour production and developing flour suitable for China's noodle food requirements according to local conditions should become the development direction of wheat flour processing in China.