FRACTIONATION

AND
RECONSTITUTION
OF
WHEAT AND WHEAT FLOUR
TOPICS
1. Definitions
2. Aims and objectives of fractionation
and reconstitution
3. Components of wheat and wheat flour
separated in the fractionation process
4. Starting materials for fractionation
processes
5. Important steps in wheat and wheat
flour fractionation processes
6. Whole wheat kernel fractionation
processes
7. Wet fractionation of whole wheat
kernel
8. Dry fractionation of whole wheat
kernel
9. Factors affecting the wet fractionation
process of whole wheat kernel
10. Wheat flour fractionation processes
11. Factors affecting the fractionation of
wheat flour
12. Methods of reconstitution of wheat and
wheat flour
13. Effects of fractionation and
reconstitution of wheat and wheat
flour on food products
1. DEFINITIONS
1.1 DEFINITION OF
FRACTIONATION
 Fractionation means separating wheat
or wheat flour into
 Proteins
 Starch
 Damaged starch
 NSP (non-starch polysaccharide)
 Lipids
1.2 DEFINITION OF
RECONSTITUTION
 Reconstitution means adding wheat
/flour fractions or components to form
new flour.
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF
FRACTIONATION AND
RECONSTITUTION
OBJECTIVE # 01
 To separate
 Starch
 Gluten
 Other components
GLOBAL STARCH MARKET
 2000
 48.5 Million Tons
 2005
 60 Million Tons
 2010
 70 Million Tons
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS USING
NATIVE STARCH

 Chemicals
 Acetic acid
 Lactic acid
 Cosmetics
 Coatings (food and drug)
 Dispersing agent
 Industrial alcohol
 Organic solvents
 Surgical dressings
 Paper and paper related products
 Abrasive paper and cloth
 Bookbinding
 Labels
 Papers
 Straws
 Adhesives
 Binders
 Glues
 Gums
 Pastes
 Textile
 Cord polishing
 Dyes
 Oil cloth
 Printing
 Sizing
 Window shades
 Fermentation
 Fuel alcohol
 Beer
 Building materials
 Cardboard
 Ceramics
 Coating (wood, metal)
 Wallboard
 Fiberboard
 Ceiling tile
 Wall paper
 Cork products
 Domestic products
 Diapers
 Typewriter ribbons
 Trash bags
 Cord, string
 Misc. Industries
 Explosives
 Filters
 Fireworks
 Drilling fluids
 Plastics
 Rubbers
 Tires
FOOD PRODUCTS USING
NATIVE STARCH
 Baking snack foods
 Baking powder
 Biscuits
 Breads and rolls
 Cakes
 Cookies
 Crackers
 Doughnuts
 Pies
 Canning
 Berries
 Fruits
 Fruits fillings
 Soups
 Tomato sauce
 Vegetables
 Confectionary
 Chewing gum
 Chocolates
 Dusting powders
 Marshmallows
 Condiments
 Ketchup
 Gravies
 Mayonnaise
 Mustard
 Salad dressings
 Sauce mixes
 Fats and oils
 Margarine
 Pan coatings
 Frozen desserts
 Frozen puddings
 Ice cream or milk
 Powder mixes
 Sherbets
 Meat products
 Sausage
 Mincemeat
 Surimi
 Fish, sea food
 Mixes
 Cake
 Coatings and breadings
 Cookies, brownie
 Dessert
 Gravy
 Instant breakfast foods
 Pancake
 Seasoning
 Soups
APPLICATIONS OF
GLUTEN
 Gluten is used as a stabilizing agent in
products like ice-cream and ketchup.

 Wheat gluten is an alternative to

soybean-based meat substitutes.
 In china, gluten balls that are large and
puffed-up can be stuffed with fillings.
 In Japanese cuisine, gluten is cooked
and simmered in soup such that it gains
flavor from the broth.
 Wheat gluten is also sometimes used in
pet foods.
 Wheat gluten from China adulterated by
melamine has been blamed as the
cause of a widespread recall of pet food
in March 2007.
OBJECTIVE # 02
 To develop nutritionally enhanced or
value added ingredients and products.
 Modified starches
OBJECTIVE # 03
 To separate components of wheat and
wheat flour
 which play functional roles in different
products.
 We may increase the percentage of
these functional components in the
recipe to improve relevant characteristic
of the product.
 Gluten
OBJECTIVE # 04
 To remove parts of the wheat which
may confer unwanted properties to
food in terms of safety, processing,
nutrition, or acceptability by consumers.
 Gluten
OBJECTIVE # 05
 To produce new flours and ingredients
with optimized techno-functional and
nutritional attributes.
OBJECTIVE # 06
 To investigate the role of flour
components in quality of different food
products.
3. COMPONENTS OF WHEAT AND
WHEAT FLOUR SEPARATED IN
THE FRACTIONATION PROCESS
 Proteins
 Starch
 Damaged starch
 Non – starch polysaccharides (NSP)
 Lipids
3.1. PROTEINS
 Wheat grain contains about
 12% proteins
which are found in the endosperm.

 The proteins are divided into two main

groups:
 GLUTEN PROTEINS
 NON – GLUTEN PROTEINS
Gluten proteins include
 Gliadins
 Glutenins
Non – gluten proteins include
 Albumins
 Globulins
3.2. STARCH
 It is the most abundant component of
wheat,
 63 – 72%.
 It is present in the endosperm.
 It consists of the glucose polymers
 Amylose
 Amylopectin
3.3. DAMAGED STARCH
 5 – 8% during flour milling
3.4. NON – STARCH
POLYSACCHARIDE (NSP)
 β-glucans
 Cellulose etc.
 Arabinoxylans (AX)
 Arabinogalactan-peptides (AGP)
3.5. LIPIDS
 Wheat contains about 2% lipids.
 Starch lipids
 Non-starch lipids
STARCH LIPIDS
 Starch lipids are bound to starch.
 Starch lipids are 25% of total lipids.
NON – STARCH LIPIDS
 Non-starch lipids comprise about 75%
of the total flour lipids
 Non-starch lipids consist predominantly
of triglycerides.
4. STARTING MATERIALS OF
FRACTIONATION PROCESS
 Whole wheat kernel
 Wheat flour
WHOLE WHEAT KERNEL
VERSES WHEAT FLOUR
 The most widespread methods for
isolation of starch and gluten use
 wheat flour as starting materials.
DISADVANTAGES OF USING
WHOLE WHEAT KERNEL
 Fractionation of whole wheat kernel
often leads to an impaired gluten
production as a result of harsh
processing conditions which devitalize
the gluten.
 The wet milling process for extracting
starch and gluten directly from wheat
kernel is hindered by the high tendency
of gluten proteins to agglomerate.
 This results in the attachment of gluten
proteins with bran components from
which the proteins then can no longer
be separated.
DISADVANTAGES OF
USING WHEAT FLOUR
 Flour extraction in the mill does not
exceeds 75-80%, thus not more than
85-90% of the starch originally present
in the wheat is available for starch
production.
 Milling results in some starch damage.
 The presence of damaged starch may
restrict the use of starch in certain
applications and reduces the yield of
prime starch.
5. IMPORTANT STEPS IN MOST
WHEAT AND WHEAT FLOUR
FRACTIONATION PROCESSES
 Steeping
 Milling
 Gluten protein agglomeration
 Gluten development
 Starch separation
 Centrifugation
 Tabling
 Sieving or screening
5.1. STEEPING
 Steeping means to soak in

 water or
 other liquid like ethanol

to soften, cleanse, or extract some

constituents.
5.2. MILLING
 Wheat flour is essentially endosperm
tissue reduced to small particle size by
milling, which also separated bran and
germ from the endosperm.
5.3. GLUTEN PROTEIN
AGGLOMERATION
 In most processes,
 flour is suspended in an aqueous medium
and
 upon hydration, gluten proteins
agglomerate or coagulate and
 a gluten protein enriched phase is formed.
5.4. GLUTEN
DEVELOPMENT
 A special type of gluten protein
agglomeration takes place under dough
making conditions.
 Gluten matrix is much stronger than the
gluten protein agglomerates.
5.5. STARCH SEPARATION
 Taking advantage of the higher density
of starch granules than gluten particles,
starch is separated from the protein
fraction
 By centrifugation
 By tabling
 Taking advantage of the difference in
size of starch granules and gluten
particles, starch is separated from the
protein fraction
 by sieving or screening
 6. WHOLE WHEAT KERNEL
FRACTIONATION PROCESSES
 Wet fractionation
 Dry fractionation
7. WET FRACTIONATION OF WHOLE
WHEAT KERNEL
Wet fractionation processes
 Halle fermentation
 Alsatian process
 Longford – Slotter process
 Pillsbury hydromilling
 Far-Mar-Co process
7.1 HALLE FERMENTATION
 It is the early method for producing
wheat starch from whole kernel.
 In this process,
 Wheat is steeped in water for about a
week at 25 °C to soften the grain, followed
by grinding and fermentation.
 Protein is degraded or solubilised.
 Starch is washed out through the openings
of a rotating perforated drum.
 The protein and bran fractions remain
inside the drum.
 Starch is recovered by tabling or
centrifugation, refined, and dried.
 Vital gluten can not be recovered.
7.2 ALSATION PROCESS
 In this process,
 Steeping (1-2 days at 30-35 °C) is
conducted.
 After steeping, the wheat is crushed and
put the doughy mash (pulpy mass) in a
perforated trough (tray with high walls)
with rotating arms.
 Starch and the wash water pass through
the perforations and the starch is
subsequently tabled or centrifuged, further
refined, and dried.
 Bran can be separated from the mash by
continued washing and about 30 or 40% of
the gluten proteins recovered.
7.3 LONGFORD – SLOTTER
PROCESS
 In this process,
 Wheat is steeped for 24 hours at 37 °C at
a relatively high concentration (between
0.3 – 0.5%) of sulphur dioxide.
 Sulphur dioxide lowers pH, increase gluten
solubility, and inhibit microbial growth,
depolymerises the gluten proteins and
loosen the starch / gluten matrix.
 The steeped wheat is ground and the
resulting slurry sieved.
 The residue comprises the bran fraction.
 The starch and gluten suspensions are
tabled
 The gluten obtained is not vital since the
wheat is initially steeped in the presence of
sulphur dioxide.
7.4 PILLSBURY
HYDROMILLING
 In this process,
 Wheat is steeped in aqueous acid at pH 0.8 –
1.7 at 37 – 40 °C for 12-24 hours.
 Steeping operation is followed by wet grinding
and sieving.
 Germ and bran are retained and removed.
 The endosperm is dewatered and dried to form
a floury product.
7.5 FAR-MAR-CO PROCESS
 In this process,
 Whole wheat kernels are tempered in water and
then flaked milled to reduce the particle sizes of
the kernel components
 The milled particles are mixed with water to form
a relatively dilute homogenous slurry, in which the
solid particles are uniformly dispersed in the liquid
to obtain a maximum dissociation of the starch
and gluten matrix.
 The dispersion is separated into its gluten,
starch by centrifugation.
 The gluten phase is further processed to
remove remaining impurities.
8. DRY FRACTIONATION OF WHOLE
WHEAT KERNEL
 Conventional milling
 Alternate technologies
8.1 CONVENTIONAL
MILLING
 The conventional milling of grains aims to
dissociate and separate the starchy
endosperm from the outer layers with the
highest possible yield and purity.
 Although white flour and bran are the primary
products of milling industry, it also generates
many different fractions that can be partly
remixed to formulate enriched flours with
increased ash content.
8.2 ALTERNATE
TECHNOLOGIES
 They are based on progressive
debranning or bran
cracking/fractionation in combination
with suitable grain physical or
enzymatic pretreatments.
8.3 IMPORTANT STEPS IN
WHEAT DRY FRACTIONATION

 Pre-treatments
 Degerming
 Debranning
 Bran fractionation
Pre-treatments
 Wheat grain can be subjected to
different pretreatments before milling or
grinding, in order
 To modify its mechanical properties
 To improve tissue dissociation and increase
or decrease the tissue fragmentation
 To modify its biochemical properties
 To influence the tissue composition
 To influence tissue biological activity
 To have an effect on the properties of the
grain and bran
 To influence the organoleptic properties of
the final product, such as flour and bread
 To influence the functional properties of the
final product, such as flour and bread
 Physical Pretreatments includes
 Changes in the moisture content of grain
and bran
 Decrease or increase in the conditioning
temperature
 Exposure to ultraviolet radiation
 Biochemical pretreatments includes
 Adding chemical agents in the tempering
water
 Adding enzymes in the tempering water
Degerming
 Wheat germ is a source of highly
concentrated nutrients and is one of the
richest sources of tocopherols of plant
origin.
 It is a valuable ingredient and a good
way of fortifying food products.
 “Beall Degerminator” process can be
used for Degerming.
 In beall degerminator process,
 the grains are forced between a stationary
casing and a rotating conical rotor, and the
germ is dislodged from the endosperm by
impact and bending stress.
Debranning
 Debranning of wheat is adapted from a
process widely used for rice.
 This technique is based on sequential and
controlled removal of grain layers prior to
milling.
 Debranning of grains can be carried out by
 Friction (peeling)
 Abrasion/scraping (pearling)
 Combination of friction and abrasion
Bran fractionation
 Wheat bran was considered to be a
milling by-product and mostly used in
animal feed.
 It is a source of compounds which have
high value for human nutrition, like
 fiber
 micronutrients
 antioxidant
 Wheat bran nutritional value may be
enhances
 By new fractionation processes
 By separating the interesting parts of the
bran from the undesirable ones
 By making bioactive compounds more
accessible
 Most bran fractionation processes comprise
two steps.
 In the fragmentation step, bran tissues are broken
down by grinding. Various types of stresses are
imposed on the bran, like
 Impact
 Shearing
 Compression
 Crushing
 In the separation step, the bran particles
are sorted out according to certain
properties, such as
 Size
 Shape
 Mass
 Density
 Dielectric properties
9. FACTORS AFFECTING THE WET
FRACTIONATION PROCESS OF
WHOLE WHEAT
 Steeping
 Processing aids
 Enzymes
10. WHEAT FLOUR FRACTIONATION
PROCESSES
Processes for wheat flour
fractionation
 Dough process
 Dough – batter process
 Batter process
 Other batter based processes
 Alkaline process
10.1. DOUGH PROCESS
 It is also called as Martin process.
 It is the traditional method for obtaining
gluten from wheat flour.
 It has been widely used since 1835.
 In this process,
 A stiff dough with approximately 40 – 60%
water is allowed to rest and fully hydrate,
producing a centimeter to meter sized
gluten matrix.
 The dough is then washed in a continuous
kneader with additional water to remove
starch and the WEF (water extractable
fraction) from the gluten.
 The starch containing washings (starch
milk, starch suspension) are centrifuged,
the WEF removed and the lighter squeegee
starch separated from the heavier prime
starch which is subsequently dried.
10.2 DOUGH – BATTER
PROCESS
 In this process,
 The first step is the formation of a stiff
dough.
 The gluten matrix is partially dispersed by
addition of extra water and mixing.
 This results in a batter which is then sieved
or centrifuged to obtain starch and gluten.
10.3 BATTER PROCESS
 This process is a variation of the Martin
process.
 It was developed during World War II.
 This process, also known as the batter/
Slurry or screening process has been
adapted for continuous processing.
 In this process,
 A slack dough or batter is formed by mixing
approximately equal amounts of flour and water.
 The batter is mechanically broken up in the
presence of additional water to produce
suspended curds of gluten particles containing low
levels of residual starch.
 Millimeter sized gluten particles are produced.
 Typically, temperatures of 40 – 55 °C are
used.
 The gluten curds are recovered the sieves
while the starch milk and WEF (water
extractable fraction) pass through.
 The starch is recovered by centrifugation
or tabling and subsequently dried.
10.4 OTHER BATTER –
BASED PROCESSES
 FESCA OR DIRECT CENTRIFUGATION
PROCESS
 RAISIO PROCESS
FESCA OR DIRECT CENTRIFUGATION
PROCESS

 In this process,
 Wheat flour is rapidly mixed with water to
form a thin batter in which gluten protein
agglomeration is minimized by additional
shear and a lower slurry temperature (30
°C) compared to the batter process.
 The centrifugal process produces
micrometer – sized gluten agglomerates.
 The starch is removed from the suspension
by centrifugation while the protein remains
suspended.
 The centrifugation yields essentially three
layers:
 Prime starch
 Squeegee starch
 Semi-clear supernatant which contain proteins
and WEF (water extractable fraction)
RAISIO PROCESS
 In this process,
 Flour and water are combined into a batter
which is homogenized to give a uniform
suspension without gluten protein
agglomeration.
 Continuous centrifugation of the
suspension separates the heavy prime
starch from a protein rich fraction.
 Protein agglomeration and gluten
development then takes place during pin
mixing.
 Gluten is separated by passing over
vibrating screens and is then washed,
dewatered, and dried.
10.5 ALKALINE PROCESS
 In this process,
 The wheat flour is dispersed and partly
dissolved in 0.03 M sodium hydroxide or
ammonia.
 The dispersion is tabled or centrifuged to
give a non-vital gluten fraction.
 A significant portion (70 – 80 %) of total
starch is recovered as prime starch.
11. FACTORS AFFECTING THE
FRACTIONATION OF WHEAT
FLOUR
 Flour composition
 Protein
 Starch
 NSP (non-starch polysaccharide)
 Lipids
 Mixing water
 Amount
 Temperature
 Mineral content
 Mixing time
 Mixing speed
 Washing
 Processing aids
 Ascorbic acid
 Enzymes
 Pearling (prior to the milling)
12. METHODS OF RECONSTITUTION
OF WHEAT AND WHEAT FLOUR
 Add flour fractions or components to a
native flour.
 Flour is separated into fractions or
components and then add the fractions
to form a reconstituted flour.
13. EFFECTS OF FRACTIONATION
AND RECONSTITUTION OF WHEAT
AND WHEAT FLOUR ON FOOD
PRODUCTS
BAKED PRODUCTS
 POSITIVE EFFECT
Baking volume is proportional to the
increase of the total protein content of
the reconstituted flour.
BAKED PRODUCTS
 NEGATIVE EFFECT
 The baking volume of the reconstituted
flour decreased.
 The dough and gluten prepared with
reconstituted flour had higher resistance
than the native flours.
BREAD
 POSITIVE EFFECT
 Loaf volume of petroleum ether defatted
flour is increased after addition of
shortening.
BREAD
 NEGATIVE EFFECT
 Mixing time increased as the shortening
level increased in the defatted and
reconstituted wheat flour.
 Water absorption decreased as the
shortening level increased in defatted and
reconstituted wheat flours.
NOODLES
 NEGATIVE EFFECT
 Quality score is decreased when noodles
are made from reconstituted flour.