Evolution of rheological properties and falling number of wheat stored over a longer period of time

Abstract

The quality of wheat is essential for the processing of flour in the bakery industry, this can be determined by several methods, one of which is alveographic properties. The problem of sprouting from a batch of stored wheat can lead to a sufficiently high enzymatic activity that compromises the functionality of the flour and the quality of the bread. The phenomenon is usually analysed using the Hagberg falling number method. Maintaining the quality of cereals and preventing large product losses is achieved with the help of efficient storage systems. This paper evaluates the link between the effects of long-term, more accurate wheat storage and alveographic properties, along with falling number (FN). The wheat from which the flour is obtained is stored for a period of at least three years, the purpose of this study being to observe the quality of the wheat over time. To obtain high quality doughs, the wheat must be conditioned 24 hours before being analysed. In this respect 12 samples of common wheat were analysed, from the area of the Curtea de Argeș, Romania provided by the deposits of the National Administration of State Reserves and Special Issues. From the values obtained for FN and Alveograph, it could be observed that analysed samples storage suffered quality loss after several years of storage compared to the moment they were collected. Factors leading to deterioration of these properties could be improper storage, humidity, and temperature of the product as well as the microclimate not being controlled or monitored daily, ventilation not provided by mechanical means, especially during the summertime, appropriate measures were not taken to keep these parameters within limits allowed, treatments against live pest infestation.