Wheat Flour
Pages 1-14
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/189112725X.001
ISBN: 1-891127-25-X
Abstract
Topics Covered
- Historical Perspective
- Wheat Types
- Growth Regions
- General Uses
- Kernel Structure
- Germination and Growth
- Wheat Production Problems
- World Wheat Production and Marketing
- Logistics
- Wheat Standards
- Wheat Storage
- Factors Important to the Wheat Producer
Introduction to Chapter
A wheat seed warms, and moisture begins to penetrate its outer layers. The metabolic processes fostering growth are initiated; a shoot emerges, as does a root, and the seed becomes a fledgling wheat plant. If conditions are favorable, the plant continues to grow, resembling its close cousins, the common grasses found in lawns. The plant continues to grow and, eventually, inside the stem, a head of wheat begins to develop. The stem swells, and then the head emerges. It “flowers,” initiating the development of new seeds within the head, which ripen from a soft “milky” consistency to kernels that eventually resemble the seed that initiated this entire growth cycle. As the wheat ripens, the plant turns from green to amber and loses moisture.
It is now time to harvest the new wheat kernels by mechanically separating them from the rest of the plant. Perhaps the wheat will be transported to elevators, stored, and transported to larger elevators before the wheat is tempered and milled into flour—or perhaps the kernels will be milled locally. Regardless of where it is milled, this “new-crop” flour will eventually be used to produce a seemingly endless variety of wheat-based products.
As the major ingredient in most such products, flour exerts a major effect on their quality. To be able to effectively use flour to make high-quality products without encountering processing or end-product quality problems requires a thorough working knowledge of all aspects of wheat and flour. It is the objective of this handbook to be a broad-based resource to aid the reader in acquiring this knowledge.
