Process for the production of refined whole-wheat flour with low coloration

Abstract

A description is given of a whitish whole flour and a process for producing said flour, whereby said process involves: (a) supplying a quantity of conditioned wheat grain; (b) fractionating the wheat grain to obtain endosperm, bran, and germ; (c) separating and distributing the endosperm, bran, and germ to allow them to be treated; (d) milling the endosperm that is obtained in step (c) in order to homogenize the particle size to approximately 150-180 microns; (e) treating the germ in order to reduce the reactivity of the lipids contained therein; (f) treating the bran obtained in step (c) by: (f-i) separating the stream of bran coming from step (c) in order to produce a fine bran and a coarse bran, and (f-ii) milling the coarse bran from step (f-i) in order to obtain a pulverized bran with a particle diameter of approximately 180 microns; (g) mixing the endosperm from step (d), the germ from step (e), the fine bran from step (f-i), and the pulverized bran from step (f-ii) in a measurable and controlled manner in order to obtain a whitish whole-wheat flour that consists of approximately 80.0% endosperm, approximately 17.5% bran, and approximately 2.5% germ.

1 . A method for obtaining a refined wheat flour, which comprises the steps of:
 (a) supplying a quantity of conditioned wheat grain;   (b) fractionating the wheat grain to obtain endosperm, bran, and germ;   (c) separating and distributing the endosperm, bran, and germ to allow them to be treated;   (d) milling the endosperm that is obtained in step (c) in order to homogenize the particle size to approximately 150-180 microns;   (e) treating the germ in order to reduce the reactivity of the lipids contained therein;   (f) treating the bran obtained in step (c) by:
 (i) separating the stream of bran coming from step (c) in order to produce a fine bran and a coarse bran, and 
 (ii) milling the coarse bran from step (i) in order to obtain a pulverized bran with a particle diameter of approximately 180 microns; 
   (g) mixing the endosperm from step (d), the germ from step (e), the fine bran from step (f-i), and the pulverized bran from step (f-ii) in order to obtain a whitish whole-wheat flour that consists of approximately 80.0% endosperm, approximately 17.5% bran, and approximately 2.5% germ.   
     
     
         2 . A method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the refined wheat flour obtained is whitish, having an L value which is a) greater than whole wheat flour produced by milling the endosperm together with the unbleached bran and b) less than conventional bleached white flour. 
     
     
         3 . A method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the whitish refined wheat flour obtained has an L value on the Hunter scale, Illuminant D65, which is greater than 80 and less than 93. 
     
     
         4 . A method in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein the whitish color is measured using a Minolta CR310 Chroma meter with a CRA33e glass light protection tube. 
     
     
         5 . A method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein treating the germ in order to reduce the reactivity of the lipids contained therein comprises heating the germ. 
     
     
         6 . A method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein mixing the endosperm from step (d), the germ from step (e), the fine bran from step (f-i), and the pulverized bran from step (f-ii) to obtain a whitish whole-wheat flour is performed in a measurable and controlled manner with high-precision flow meters. 
     
     
         7 . A method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the wheat grain that is supplied consists of white wheat. 
     
     
         8 . A method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the process is continuous. 
     
     
         9 . The method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein mixing the endosperm from step (d), the germ from step (e), the fine bran from step (f-i), and the pulverized bran from step (f-ii) to obtain a whitish whole-wheat flour is performed in an in-line mixer wherein the endosperm, the germ, the fine bran, and the pulverized bran are run through individual high-precision flow meters, whereby these flow meters are operationally connected to a flow controller, before the ingredients are mixed in an in-line mixer. 
     
     
         10 . The method in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the fine bran and pulverized bran are combined to form a single stream of bran before reaching the mixing step. 
     
     
         11 . A whitish whole-wheat flour that is obtained by the process of any of  claims 1 - 10 , whereby said flour contains:
 a) approximately 80.0% milled endosperm, with a particle diameter of approximately 150-180 microns;   b) approximately 2.5% treated germ, with a particle diameter of approximately 700-850 microns; and   c) approximately 17.5% bran, with a particle diameter of 180-200 microns.   
     
     
         12 . A whitish wheat flour in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein the whitish whole-wheat flour has a carbohydrate content of 71.00-73.00%, a fat content of 1.50-2.50%, an ash content of 1.40-1.60%, a fiber content of 11.60-12.20%, a moisture content of 10.0-13.0%, and a protein content of 13.0-14.0%. 
     
     
         13 . The whitish whole-wheat flour of  claim 11 , wherein the bran contains:
 i) a fine bran with a particle diameter of approximately 200 microns; and   ii) a pulverized bran with a particle diameter of approximately 180 microns.   
     
     
         14 . The whitish whole-wheat flour in accordance with  claim 11 , which has a color that is defined by a luminosity value L of 84-86, a+values of 1-2.0, and b+values of 6-10, based on the Hunter scale using an Illuminant D65. 
     
     
         15 . A baked product based on a whitish whole-grain wheat flour that is obtained by the process of any of  claims 1 - 10 , wherein said product contains a combination of:
 a) approximately 80.0% milled endosperm, with a particle diameter of approximately 150-180 microns;   b) approximately 2.5% treated germ, with a particle diameter of approximately 700-850 microns; and   c) approximately 17.5% bran, with a particle diameter of 180-200 microns.   
     
     
         16 . A baked product in accordance with  claim 15 , wherein the baked product is selected from among bread, pasta, pizza dough, tortillas, cereal, biscuits, cakes, cocktail canapés, and waffles. 
     
     
         17 . A method of using a whitish whole-grain wheat flour that is obtained by the process of any of  claims 1 - 10 , and contains a combination of:
 a) Approximately 80.0% milled endosperm, with a particle diameter of approximately 150-180 microns;   b) Approximately 2.5% treated germ, with a particle diameter of approximately 700-850 microns; and   c) Approximately 17.5% bran, with a particle diameter of 180-200 microns; in the making of whole-grain baked products,   said method comprising forming a dough with said whitish whole grain wheat flour for a food product.   
     
     
         18 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein the food product is bread, pasta, pizza dough, tortillas, cereal, biscuits, cakes, cocktail canapés, or waffles. 
     
     
         19 . A system for making a whitish whole-grain wheat flour, which comprises:
 a wheat conditioner (a),   a conditioned-wheat supply device (b) operatively connected to wheat conditioner (a) to receive conditioned wheat,   a plurality of wheat-grain titration tanks (c) each operatively connected to the conditioned wheat supply device (b) so as to receive conditioned wheat therefrom, said wheat grain titration tanks adapted to fractionate the endosperm, bran, and germ of the conditioned wheat into fine particles,   one or more sifters (d), each operatively connected to a grain titration tank (c) to receive the fractionated endosperm there from, bran, and germ, wherein each sifter is adapted to separate the fractionated endosperm, bran, and germ; and each sifter is also operationally connected to a control valve (e) for transporting the separated endosperm, bran, and germ;   an endosperm compressor (f) operatively connected to the control valve (e) to receive endosperm therefore, wherein said endosperm compressor is adapted to homogenize the particle size of the endosperm obtained from the sifter(s) (d) to approximately 150-180 microns;   a heat-treatment unit (g) operatively connected to the control valve (e) to receive germ therefrom, wherein said heat treatment unit is adapted to treat the germ to reduce the reactivity of the lipids contained in the germ;   a bran sieve (h) operatively connected to the control valve (e) to receive bran therefrom, wherein said bran sieve is adapted to separate the bran into fine bran with a particle size of less than 200 microns; and coarse bran with a particle size of greater than 200 microns;   a high-speed hammer mill (i) operatively connected to the bran sieve (h) to receive coarse bran therefrom which has been separated with said bran sieve, wherein said high speed hammer mill is adapted to pulverized bran to a particle size of approximately 180 microns;   an in-line mixer (j) adapted to receive and mix, the homogenized endosperm from endosperm compressor (f) the deactivated germ from the heat treatment unit (g), the fine bran from bran sieve (h) and pulverized bran from hammer mill (i), to form wheat flour.