Wheat is one of the most important food crops in the world. One-third of the world’s population relies on wheat as their staple food. The main uses of wheat are to make food and process starch. In recent years, my country’s agriculture has developed rapidly, but farmers’ income has grown slowly, and farmers’ grain accumulation has declined. Therefore, seeking a way out for my country’s wheat, increasing wheat utilization, and raising wheat prices have become a major issue in my country’s strategic adjustment of agricultural structure and even affecting the stable and coordinated development of the national economy.
The main component of wheat is starch, which accounts for about 75% of the weight of wheat grains and is the main component of wheat grain endosperm. Compared with other raw materials, wheat starch has many superior properties, such as low thermal viscosity and low gelatinization temperature. The production process, physical and chemical properties, product applications of wheat starch, and the relationship between wheat starch and wheat quality have been widely studied at home and abroad. This article briefly summarizes the characteristics of wheat starch, separation and extraction technology, and the application of starch and gluten.
1. Characteristics of wheat starch
The starch content in the grain structure of wheat accounts for 58% to 76%, mainly in the form of starch granules in the endosperm cells of wheat, and the starch content in wheat flour accounts for about 70%. Most of the starch granules are round and oval, and a small number are irregular in shape. According to the size of starch granules, wheat starch can be divided into large-granule starch and small-granule starch. Large granules with a diameter of 25 to 35 μm are called A starch, accounting for about 93.12% of the dry weight of wheat starch; small granules with a diameter of only 2 to 8 μm are called B starch, accounting for about 6.8% of the dry weight of wheat starch. Some people also divide wheat starch granules into three model structures according to their diameter size: type A (10 to 40 μm), type B (1 to 10 μm) and type C (<1 μm), but type C is usually classified as type B. In terms of molecular composition, wheat starch is composed of amylose and amylopectin. Amylopectin is mainly located outside the wheat starch granules, while amylose is mainly located inside the wheat starch granules. Amylose accounts for 22% to 26% of the total starch content, and amylopectin accounts for 74% to 78% of the total starch content. Wheat starch paste has the characteristics of low viscosity and low gelatinization temperature. The thermal stability of the viscosity after gelatinization is good. The viscosity decreases little after long-term heating and stirring. The strength of the gel after cooling is high.
2. Production method of wheat starch
At present, most wheat starch factories in my country use the Martin method production process, and its main equipment is gluten machine, gluten screen, gluten drying equipment, etc.
Gluten dryer airflow collision vortex flash dryer is an energy-saving drying equipment. It uses coal as fuel, and the cold air passes through the boiler and becomes dry hot air. It is mixed with dispersed materials in the equipment in a suspended state, so that the gas and solid phases flow forward at a higher relative speed, and at the same time vaporize the water to achieve the purpose of material drying.
3. Application of wheat starch
Wheat starch is produced from wheat flour. As we all know, my country is rich in wheat, and its raw materials are sufficient, and it can be produced all year round.
Wheat starch has a wide range of uses. It can be used to make vermicelli and rice noodle wrappers, and is also widely used in the fields of medicine, chemical industry, papermaking, etc. It is used in large quantities in the instant noodles and cosmetics industries. Wheat starch auxiliary material – gluten, can be made into a variety of dishes, and can also be produced into canned vegetarian sausages for export. If it is dried into active gluten powder, it is easy to preserve and is also a product of the food and feed industry.
Post time: Aug-22-2024
