The Flour Industry

INTRODUCTION
 What is flour?
•
•
• a fine, powdery
substance, or meal,
produced by grinding
and sifting grain, esp.
wheat, or any of various
edible roots, nuts, etc.
 Etymology
•
• A variant of the word
“flower”
• Derived from Old French
“fleur”
• Literal: “blossom”
• Figurative: “the finest”

 HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
Earliest
Devices:

The


Saddlesto
ne
Earliest
Devices:

The


Mortar
and
Pestle
Earliest
Devices:
The


Quern
• 25 B.C. – Vitruvius described a
water mill

• 1150 – The windmill reached the
European continent
• 1632 - The first mill in
Boston was built
• 1786 – First fully automatic
mill was built by Oliver
Evans
• 1865 – Edmun La Croix
introduced the first
middlings purifier
•
•
1878 – The first roller mill was

used in Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Components of Flour
• 65% -70% starch
• 9% - 14% protein
• 4 % - others (Cellulose, fats,
sugar)
•
• Gliadin and glutenin are the
proncipal proteins
USES
• Baking breads, cakes,
cookies, and many other
foods
•
• Wheat flour is a base for
adhesives and paper mache
TYPES OF FLOUR
 Wheat Flour
• Most commonly used flour
• Its varieties are hard and soft
Bread Flour – high in gluten


and excellent for yeast bread

making
• All-Purpose Flour – blended
wheat flour. It is an
alternative for baker’s flour


• Cake flour – made from soft

wheat. It is suitable for
soft-textured cakes and
cookies
•
• Pastry Flour – considered as
soft wheat flour
• White flour – made from the
endosperm of the wheat
grain
•
• Whole wheat flour – made
from the whole kernel
•
• Germ flour – made from germ
and endosperm of the grain
•
• Self-Rising flour – premixed
with leavening agents
•
• Spelt flour – produced from
spelt and used in specialty
baking
 Non-Wheat flours
• Made from other starch
plants
• Ex. Rye, Corn, Peanut,
Quinoa, Amaranth, Cassava,
Millet, Oats, Buckwheat,
and Rice
•
RAW MATERIALS
Wheat
Wheat


(Triticum
spp.) is a
worldwide
cultivated
grass


Major raw


material for
the
production of
wheat flour
 Minor Raw Materials
• Bleaching agents – for whiter
flour
• Oxidizing agents – to
enhance quality of flour
• Leavening Agents – for
baking quality
• Vitamins and Minerals – to
enrich the flour with B-
vitamins, iron, and floic acid
EXISTING INDUSTRIES
IN THE PHILIPPINES
 Bex Philippines Inc.
A f a m ily ow n e d com p a n y

Pr od u ce s cocon u t sh e ll p ow d e r,
r ice h u lls p ow d e r, W H EAT
FLOUR, a nd ca ssa va m e a l
 General Milling
Corporation

Flou r m illin g is t h e ir p ion e e r in g

b u sin e ss

It e xp a n d e d t o fe e d m illin g , corn
m illin g , a g r ib u sin e ss, a n d
f e r m e n t a t ion

Kor n e t s a n d Tor t illos a r e som e

of it s p r od u ct s
 Philippine Foremost
Milling Company
It w a s t h e f ir st f lou r m ill in t h e
W e st e r n Visaya s

On e of t h e b ig g e st p r od u ce r s of
b ot h f lou r a n d a n im a l f e e d s
 Pilmico Foods
Corporation
Pr od u ce s w or ld cla ss w h e a t
f lou r a n d r e la t e d p r od u ct s

Som e of it s b r a n d s a r e Su n
M oon St a r, Su n sh in e , Ku t it a p ,
M e g a st a r, a n d W ood e n Sp oon
 Universal Robina
Corporation
Pr od uce s a nd se lls h a r d
a nd sof t w he a t f lou r t o
b ot h com m e r cia l a nd
inst it ut iona l a ccoun t s
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
 Middlings
• Endosperm fragments from
wheat kernels
• Final Shorts – a mixture of
bran bits and powdered
endosperm and germ
•
• Gluten – sticky protein
formed when gliadin and
glutenin link together
•
• Ash – the mineral residue left
after burning of flour
samples
UNIT OPERATIONS
• Milling – process wherein
wheat kernels are being
pulverized or powdered
• Fractionation – involves air
streams and centrifugal
force
• Oxidation – aging the flour
• Bleaching – process to
obtain whiter flour
• Tempering – conditioning of
wheat kernels
 Actual
Manufacturing
Process and
Equipment
 Cleaning the Wheat
• Separator
• Aspirator
• Disk Separator
• Scourer
• Magnetic Separator
• De-Stoner
•
Cleaning the Wheat
Separator


• Larger objects
than the
kernels will
be removed
Cleaning the Wheat
 Aspirator
• Sucks up
materials
that are
lighter than
wheat grains
Cleaning the Wheat
Disk


Separator
• Collect Objects
with the
same size as
of te grain
Cleaning the Wheat
Intensive


Scourer
• Removes outer
husks of the
kernels and
small
impurities
Cleaning the Wheat
Magnetic


Separator
• Magnets the
metals like
iron and steel
Cleaning the Wheat
 De-stoner
• Removes
stones that
are same size
as the grains
 Tempering the
Wheat
• Tempering bins
• Entoleter
Tempering the
WheatTempering


Bins
• Tempered
wheats are
stored here
for about 8-
24 hours
Tempering the
Wheat
 Entoleter
• Hurl the grains
of wheats
aginst metal
pins
 Grinding the Wheat
• Grinding Bins
• Corrugated Rollers or
Breaker Rolls
• Sifters or Sieves
• Middlings Purifier
•
Grinding the Wheat
Grinder


• Large hoppers
that will feed
the kernels
to the milling
process
Grinding the Wheat
Roller mill


• Cracks open
kernels and
separate
bran from
inner layer of
grains
Grinding the Wheat
 Sifters
• Separates
middlings
from the
bran and
others
Grinding the Wheat
Purifier


• Lifts off light

particles and
grades
coarser
fractions by
size and
quality
 Enhancements
• Adding improvers and
conditioners to enhance
thequality of the flour
 

 End