Patent Abstract:
a hard wheat pasta containing bran , wherein the bran has a total fibre content comprised between 30 and 36 % and a protein content comprised between 15 and 19 % ; such pasta preferably has a bran content comprised between 5 and 30 % and is produced by a process which comprises the steps of a ) subjecting hard wheat caryopses to sequential abrasion process phases in order to substantially remove the bran coating , thereby obtaining different bran fractions , the latter of which originates from the removal of the aleurone , nucellar and testa layers ; b ) adding the latter bran fraction to a hard wheat semolina substantially free of bran in a quantity such to obtain a mixture containing from 5 to 30 % of the total weight of bran fraction ; c ) producing the pasta by means of conventional techniques starting from said mixture ; the invention furthermore refers to a hard wheat semolina composition having a fibre content comprised between 30 and 36 % and a protein content comprised between 15 and 19 % and to a process for its production .

Detailed Description:
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , the process for the production of a composition based on hard wheat semolina according to the invention involves the wheat caryopses 101 undergoing , prior to their rupture ( milling ), progressive removal of the bran layers , by subjecting the outer surface of the caryopses to the abrasive action of a plurality of decortication or abrasion machines 108 a , 108 b , 108 c ( for example 2 or 3 ), which a flow of wheat passes in series , one after the other ( see fig2 ). the decortication or abrasion machines 108 a , 108 b , 108 c comprise a vertical axis rotating shaft , on which the abrasive carborundum grindstones are mounted . examples of machines for the decortication apt for use in the present process are provided in the applications ep 0 373 274 and ep 0 335 174 . one machine which is commercially available and useful in the present process is the machine model deco 420r from t . a . e . the wheat , upon entering the upper part of the machine , is pushed toward the outlet situated in the lower part . in this way , the wheat is forced to spread itself in the restricted space between the rotating grindstones and a metallic containment baffle , thus undergoing an abrasive action which causes the removal of the outermost bran layers , which are recovered in the form of powder by suction . this operation is repeated , for example , three consecutive times , thus permitting the progressive separation of increasingly internal bran layers . with the first passing , the most superficial bran layers are removed , with the second the intermediate layers and finally with the third passing the innermost layers , those nearest to the endosperm and essentially originating from the aleurone 105 , nucellar 104 and testa 103 layers , are removed . finally , the caryopses ( 101 ) exiting from the third abrasion machine 108 c are fed into a conventional mill 109 , in which they are ground , producing a flour s consisting essentially of endosperm . according to an alternative embodiment , illustrated schematically in fig3 , the decortication process is carried out twice , utilising the machines 108 a and 108 b , in the first passing mostly removing the layers outside the testa layer . for its composition characteristics ( high protein level , satisfactory content of fibre , minerals , lipids , vitamins and phytochemicals ), the third bran fraction d is particularly desirable so as to be joined , during the milling process , with the aforementioned flour s consisting essentially of endosperm . an average typical composition of the third bran fraction d obtained by the process of the present invention is shown in the table 1 , below . the third decortication fraction d is transported to a doser ( for example of the screw - type ), and the same is done for the flow of the product s obtained by the milling of the caryopsis from which the bran coating has been removed by the above described abrasion steps . the two dosers converge in a mixer 110 , which provides an effective mixing in order to provide a food composition c based on hard wheat semolina according to the invention . through the mixing screw and immediately before final storage , the food composition c according to the invention is conveyed towards a sifting system in order to guarantee a uniform particle size and to remove any particles excessively large in size . the food composition based on hard wheat semolina thus obtained proves to be particularly suitable for the production of finished products such as pastas and baked products , in which the maintenance of the nutritional benefits deriving from the presence of the bran components ( fibre , minerals , lipids , vitamins , phytochemicals ) is associated with organoleptic characteristics of greater quality compared to pastas obtained by the use of conventional bran , in terms of flavour , colour and structure , and surprisingly similar to those of products obtained with sifted flours , that is , completely free of bran . the organoleptic characteristics ( flavour in particular ) are indeed maintained substantially unaltered for the entire shelf - life of the finished product . this is remarkable , particularly considering the fact that the bran fraction of the food composition according to the invention , contrary to the consistent teachings of the prior art , does not undergo any heat stabilisation treatment . the bran obtained with conventional milling processes is indeed subject to deterioration ( rancidity , cardboard taste ) even after a short period of time , due to the triggering of oxidation reactions of the lipid components present in the bran , in which there may also be present germ parts , very rich in lipids ( 1 , 3 , 28 ). normally , in the bran obtained in the conventional manner , one tries to contain and prevent this phenomenon by destroying ( inactivating ) the responsible agents ( lipolytic enzymes ) through heat ( heat treatment ), in order to avoid the bran fractions triggering oxidation reactions over time and therefore the production of off - flavour , in the finished products in which they are utilised . the heat treatment of the bran , in addition to representing an additional cost , if done at excessively high temperatures may lead to a further darkening of the bran , the development of odd flavours ( toasted , burnt ) and the triggering of chemical degradation ( by heat ) due to the lipid part ( 28 ). on the other hand , by the use of excessively low temperatures , the treatment does not permit blocking of the lipolytic enzymes . without wishing to be bound by theory , the particular stability to oxidation of the bran fraction of the food composition according to the present invention compared to the traditional bran may be due to the fact that it is obtained with a process which involves lower mechanical and thermal stress compared to those of the conventional processes . in addition to having the above mentioned advantages , the bran fraction of the food composition and pasta according to the present invention has the additional advantage , compared to traditional bran , of supplying a greater quantity of important nutrients contained in the aleuronic layer ( 1 , 2 , 11 , 29 ). also the appearance is improved , since it is less dark and more yellow , as instrumentally detectable ( on the basis of the chromatic scale cielab l * a * b *), in comparison with pastas obtained by the use of conventional bran . this is due to the smaller quantity of pigmented components located in particular in the outermost layers of the bran coating , which are capable of causing a darkening of the final products , such as pasta . moreover , the texture of the food composition and pasta according to the present invention is more similar to that of a semolina pasta since a reduced discontinuity is noted in the texture ( granulosity ), lower than that exhibited by the pastas obtained by the use of conventional bran . finally , the progressive application of the abrasive action , ensured by the described decortication or abrasion machines , permits the isolation and the use of a more internal bran fraction and therefore , from a hygienic - sanitary standpoint , the first two decortication passings may be considered as an additional and significant extension of the selection and cleaning steps which constitute the initial part , upstream of any milling process . the present invention will be further described by reference to two examples , provided here below for illustrative and non - limiting purposes . 115 kg of hard wheat previously subjected to conventional cleaning steps were wetted with a quantity of water such as to bring the humidity content of the caryopses to 16 . 5 % and simultaneously subjected to the vibrational stresses caused by a vibronet ® machine , produced by gräf gmbh & amp ; co . kg , lahnau , germany ( vibrational impulses of the duration of about 10 seconds at a frequency of 75 hz ). after a single conditioning of 5 hours , the caryopses were fed ( see fig2 ) to a first machine 108 a of decortication or abrasion , comprising a vertical axis rotating shaft on which abrasive carborundum grindstones are mounted , thus obtaining the removal of the outermost bran layers , in the form of powder recovered by suction . two subsequent passings of the caryopses exiting from the first decorticator 108 a into two other respective decortication machines 108 b and 108 c caused the removal of the intermediate and inner bran layers , again in the powder form . the caryopses exiting from the third decorticator machine 108 c were subjected to a dynamic air current cooling , prior to being fed to a conventional mill 109 for milling . here the decorticated caryopses were milled according to the standard working modes for the milling of whole caryopses , obtaining in the end 85 kg of a flour s composed essentially of endosperm with an ash content of 0 . 77 % in weight of the total weight and a protein content of 11 . 0 % in weight of the total weight . the third powder exiting from the last decorticator 108 c was a bran fraction d characterised by the composition shown in the following table 2 . from the pooling of the aforementioned third bran fraction with the flour in a 1 : 9 weight ratio , a hard whole wheat semolina was obtained having an ash content of 1 . 30 % and a protein content of 11 . 6 %. a whole grain pasta was prepared according to the present invention with the hard whole wheat semolina thus obtained , using it in the conventional production process of traditional hard wheat semolina pasta in place of the refined hard wheat semolina , by the traditional steps of kneading with water , forming by extrusion and drying to a humidity content of 12 . 0 %. the pasta thus prepared was subjected to comparison with semolina pasta through the evaluation by 100 regular consumers of pasta ( semantic differential and liking assessment test ). the pasta according to the present invention obtained an appreciation ( flavour , texture ) equal to that of semolina - only pasta . in particular , appreciation was revealed for the overall flavour , for the texture and for the fragrance while the absence of acidic or bitter notes was confirmed . a comparison between the pasta thus prepared and commercial pastas obtained with the use of conventional bran was carried out by subjecting such pastas to the judgement of 88 regular pasta consumers ( sequential monadic test ). the overall appreciation of the pasta thus prepared was significantly higher , in particular in terms of overall flavour , consistency , appearance and colour ( both raw and cooked ). a shelf - life test was conducted in extreme storage conditions ( 35 ° c . temperature and 70 % relative humidity ), so as to accelerate the processes of off - flavours formation . pasta samples thus stored were periodically evaluated by a trained tasting panel , over a period of four months , during which time neither significant variations of the organoleptic properties nor development of off - flavours were detected . 115 kg of hard wheat previously subjected to conventional cleaning steps was wetted with a quantity of water such as to bring the humidity content of the caryopses to 16 . 5 % and simultaneously subjected to the vibrational stresses induced by a vibronet ® machine , ( vibrational impulses of the duration of about 10 seconds and at a frequency of 75 hz ). after a single conditioning of 5 hours , the caryopses 101 were fed ( see fig3 ) to a first machine 108 a of decortication or abrasion , comprising a vertical axis rotating shaft on which abrasive carborundum grindstones are mounted , arranged in such a manner as so to determine the removal of the outermost and intermediate bran layers ( substantially up until the innermost layer of the pericarp ), in the form of powder recovered by suction . a subsequent passing of the caryopses exiting from the first decorticator into a second decortication machine 108 b caused the removal of the innermost bran layers , again in the powder form . the caryopses exiting the second decorticator machine 108 b were subjected to a dynamic air current cooling , prior to being fed to a conventional mill 109 for milling . here the decorticated caryopses were milled according to the standard working modes for the milling of whole caryopses , obtaining in the end 84 kg of a flour consisting essentially of endosperm with an ash content of 0 . 75 % in weight of the total weight and a protein content of 11 . 8 % in weight of the total weight . the powder exiting from the second decorticator was a bran fraction d characterised by the composition shown in table 3 below . from the pooling of the aforementioned second bran fraction d with the flour s in a 1 : 9 weight ratio , a hard whole wheat semolina was obtained having an ash content of 1 . 26 % and a protein content of 12 . 4 %. 1 ) y . pomeranz , wheat chemistry and technology , volume i , 47 - 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