CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The incorporation of whole grains in baked goods increases their nutritional value; yet, it causes a detriment to their technological and sensorial quality. The objective was to evaluate the pearling process on wheat grains as a strategy to reduce their adverse effect on wholemeal bread quality and simultaneously preserve part of the nutrients of the whole grain. The grains (Klein Rayo) were pearled applying different times (25, 125, 225, and 250 seconds) before milling. Nutritional composition of the pearled-wheat flour and their breadmaking performance were analyzed. Whole-grain flour and refined flour of the same variety were used as control. In general, pearled-wheat flour preserved a considerably higher content of total polyphenols (7-15%), ferulic acid (127-425%), water-soluble pentosans (17-53%), and dietary fiber (162-330%) compared to white flour. This could indicate that some aleurone layer cells remain in the samples despite the pearling time applied. From a bread technological quality point of view, pearled-wheat flour led to higher volume breads with lighter crust and crumb compared to whole-wheat bread. P125, P225s and P250s breads showed characteristics similar to those of white bread, although their firmness and chewiness were similar to those of whole-wheat bread. The quality improvement resulted from the extraction of the outermost bran layers, a decrease in insoluble dietary fiber and an increase in the proportion of water-soluble pentosans. In conclusion, the pearling time of wheat grains could be regulated to obtain flour enriched with bioactive compounds. Simultaneously, these types of flour could overcome the detrimental effects of whole-wheat flour in end-products, granting them characteristics similar to those of white bread. Additionally, pearling represents an economical and easily scalable process to be applied in the flour milling industry.