Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Yellow alkaline noodles
Flour specifi cations for yellow alkaline noodles
are similar to those for pan bread (Table 21.1),
but regional differences occur across Asia in
requirements for protein content. A high peak-
paste viscosity for starch may not be as important
for yellow alkaline noodles as for pan bread.
cations for regional preferences of steamed bun
are given in Table 21.1, indicating a range of
protein content, with generally medium dough
strength depending on the role of fat in the
dough.
Starch-gluten manufacture
Desirable products of this manufacturing process
are gluten of good strength and extensibility, and
starch with minimal damage and high paste vis-
cosity. To achieve these objectives, wheat milled
should be strong and soft, but this combination
has not been a common breeding target, so starch-
gluten manufacturers must usually accept fl our
milled from strong hard wheat. Nevertheless,
limited breeding efforts have recently favored the
specifi cations of the starch-gluten industry. Fur-
thermore, given the increasing importance of
ethanol production for fuel, breeding targets for
this application are being favored for suitable
cereals.
White salted noodles
However, high starch-paste viscosity is required
to produce smooth white-salted Udon noodles to
provide the required “al-dente” mouth feel. Color
is important for this product, as Japanese con-
sumers prefer cream rather than white Udon
noodles. The target color registers as a high L*
(fl our brightness) and a medium b* (fl our yellow-
ness). Flour brightness is achieved by milling
Udon fl our to low extraction (typically 50%-60%
fl our yield) thus also achieving a low fl our-ash
content. Preferences in China and Korea lead to
the milling of hard wheat to achieve white noodle
color (thus a low b* value).
Pasta
Durum wheat for pasta production is intrinsically
very hard, with its dough-strength potential being
selected for strong. Milling of the very hard
durum grain produces semolina of coarse particle
size in the range 130 to 550 μm. The gluten
protein must be strong to form a continuous cov-
ering of the endosperm particles so that the pasta
surface does not become sticky during extrusion
and cooking.
Cookies (biscuits) and cakes
Biscuit fl our is milled from soft wheat to give low
starch damage and to minimize water absorption,
thereby reducing the baking time needed to dry
out the product. An extensible dough of low
strength ensures excellent sheeting characteris-
tics, as is needed to produce biscuits with a con-
sistent size and shape.
Cake fl our is also milled from soft wheat to
provide low water absorption. This type of fl our
is generally provided in the supermarket for
household use, presumably on the assumption
that much home use is for cake and cookie
baking.
PROTEIN COMPOSITION AND
WHEAT QUALITY
Virtually all the fl our specifi cations listed in Table
21.1 are related to protein composition, and many
are directly produced by specifi c groups of pro-
teins. Given the importance of proteins in wheat
quality, it is now possible to specify marker pro-
teins as a basis for predicting wheat or fl our
quality, reducing the need to perform the appro-
priate quality test, such as dough testing, baking,
or starch pasting (Cornish et al., 2001, 2006).
Chinese steamed bread
Heating dough by means of steam produces buns
that are white, without the characteristic brown
crust of oven-baked breads. Steamed breads are
popular throughout China and in the wide range
of Chinese diets around the world. Flour specifi -
