Copyright 2016 Accademia dei Georgofili
Milling cereals in an integral manner, as well as being a way to discover authentic flavors of bread, pasta and baked goods made with it, is an extraordinary procedure to ensure that the seed fiber and wheat germ, which in modern milling methods are discarded, can remain almost entirely in the product of the milling. The cereal fibers, especially its soluble fraction, are the favorite food for our intestinal microbiota, thereby playing pre-biotic action,. Moreover, the wheat germ is rich in antioxidants and anti- inflammatory substances. Then, any milling procedure capable of preserving most of these two components is a prerequisite to obtain a “functional” ingredient. In this study, the conventional milling diagram was modified by introducing a second step to allow to eliminate the outermost veil of the kernel of grain, represented by the crude fiber (bran), the noblest part of the fiber which holds the kernel up to the starchy fraction. This process, as well as making the fiber obtained more healthy, because removing the outer layers are eliminated both most of the microbial and chemical pollutants recovering the noble fiber, the more rich in soluble fraction a real pre-biotic. Based on the results obtained, the innovative micronization process developed in this study resulted in the production of a micronized fiber of durum wheat, that can easily be used for the production of a fiber-rich bread. Furthermore, the products obtained have a high level of consumer acceptance, the micronized fiber not affecting the sensory characteristics of manufactured breads. Thus, hard wheat micronized fiber can be considered an ingredient with a high healthy and nutritional value.
