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Validating the impact of particle size effect on the overall Whole Wheat Flour (WWF) baking quality.
C. CARTER (1), T. Vang (1), D. Millers (2) (1) California Wheat Commission, Woodland, CA, U.S.A.; (2) Miller's Bake House, , CA, U.S.A..

Commercial mills have implemented their own milling settings to obtain high quality Whole Wheat Flour (WWF). High quality WWF is influenced mainly by the wheat class and variety used, but also by the milling process. Quality testing was performed to demonstrate differences in WWF milled by different milling settings. Five California (CA) Hard Red Wheat (HRW) varieties were milled with a Osttiroler Stone Mill (Austrian Mill). Three HRW WWF obtained from three different mills were used, WWF1, WWF2, and WWF3. WWF protein content of CA wheat varied from 12.7-14.2%, and commercial WWF from 12.5-12.9%. WWF fine particle yield (FPY) of =150 µm was 40% higher for all CA wheat than commercial WWF. FPY for all samples ranged from 38-87%. Correlations between Water SRC (R2=0.83), Sodium Carbonate SRC (R2=0.90), and Farinograph Absorption (R2=0.87) with FPY were high. Dough rheology testing showed a positive correlation between Mixing Tolerance Index (MTI) with FPY was R2=0.60, and a negative correlation of Mixing Tolerance with FPY was R2=0.60. In addition, Mixograph Right Slope and FPY showed a positive correlation of R2=0.43. Bread loaf volumes for all WWF ranged from 630-710cc. No correlation was found for bread loaf volume and PFY. However, bread texture and appearance made with the high PFY had more open, softer and lighter crumb than the low PFY WWF. In conclusion, the overall dough strength, absorption, handling, and baking quality of WWF is not only affected by the wheat used, but also is highly impacted by the particle size distribution (PSD). The best overall baking quality performance was obtained with the high PFY WWF of CA wheat samples milled by Osttiroler Stone Mill.