Ultrasonic characterisation of flour-water systems: a new approach to investigate dough properties

The viscoelastic properties of dough are of great interest in the baking industry as they affect the quality of the final product. In this work, the viscoelastic properties of dough were investigated using ultrasonic techniques and then compared with traditional methods. It has been shown that ultrasonics provides a non-destructive, rapid and low cost technique for the measurement of physical food characteristics. A common protocol for dough preparation was used for each type of measurement. Experimental results on more than 30 different flour quality and dough processing were presented. The measurements were correlated and compared with traditional dough quality tests. In addition, the capability of ultrasound measurements for discriminating flours for different purposes was also studied, showing the potential of ultrasound as an alternative measurement method to discriminate types of flours for different purposes.     

Use of ultrasound for the determination of flour quality

Within the baking industry, the control of dough properties is required to achieve final product quality and consistency. Traditional methods for dough testing are slow and off-line and do not provide fundamental rheological information. There is therefore a need for the development of fast and on-line instruments capable of providing relevant data for baking. Ultrasonics provide a non-destructive, rapid and low cost technique for the measurement of physical food characteristics.In this work, the water content of dough is investigated using ultrasonic techniques. The capability of ultrasound measurements for discriminating flours for different purposes is also studied. Doughs from more than 30 flours were characterised rheologically using a Chopin Alveograph and a Brabender Extensograph. Ultrasound measurements on the doughs prepared from these flours were also performed. The measurements were correlated, showing that ultrasound was an alternative measurement method to discriminate types of flours for different purposes.     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure on β-glucan content,swelling power,starch damage,and pasting properties of high-β-glucan barley flour

ABSTRACT

The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on the physicochemical properties of high-β-glucan barley flour were investigated in the present study. Dough samples were made from two types of barley flour with low and high β-glucan content, respectively, and treated with HHP (200–600?MPa) for 10?min. Although the elevation of pasting properties for the samples treated at 600?MPa was reduced to the same extent as that in wheat flour at normal atmospheric pressure, β-glucan content was maintained regardless of the pressure applied. The significant increase in starch damage of the dough samples at 550 and 600?MPa was confirmed by the results of microscopic observation, which revealed that elliptical starch granules were cracked and damaged in samples with low β-glucan at 600?MPa, and in samples with high β-glucan content at 400?MPa or more. X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples treated at 600?MPa indicated the formation of amylose-lipid complexes that were considered to inhibit the elevation of viscosity.     

Determination of the effect of high energy ultrasound application in tempering on flour quality of wheat

This research has been carried out under laboratory conditions. To determine the effect of soaking with ultrasound application to dampen hard wheat samples at one stage in tempering process was the prior goal. In the experiments, Bezostaya-1 wheat samples in different hardness levels (45, 65 and 75%) are used as material. The milling quality and qualitative properties of the flour were investigated. Results compared with the classic tempering process which has two stages tempering for hard and semi-hard wheat at the industrial applications. Ultrasonication of the samples has been applied by a probe-type ultrasound device. Because of experimental deviations, inevitable positive effect of ultrasonic tempering had not seen in the quality parameters of milling experiments like flour yield and energy consumption. But tempering with ultrasound application increased the speed of water intake and diffusion into the grain center. In the study, the wet gluten rates of the flour obtained by classical tempering process were 24.52% and the gluten index rate was 87.17%, while the results obtained by ultrasonic tempering were 22.70% and 93.33%, respectively. Thus it raised flour quality a little, possibly, due to low amount but better quality gluten coming from central endosperm in the flour obtained. Other analysis results in flour showed significant differences in some values of classical and ultrasonic tempering processes. As a result of ultrasonic tempering, the fineness rate (granulation) increased from 73.27% to 79.77%, ash content decreased from 0.61% to 0.55%, Zeleny sedimentation value decreased from 25.0 mL to 23.67 mL, flour stability increased from 9.76 min to 12.06 min, water absorption 59.1% decreased from 61.28%, softening resistance increased from 400.33 BU to 504.50 BU, maximum resistance increased from 420.50 BU to 536.16 BU. In bread trials, bread volume increased from 328.3 mL to 347.3 mL, and specific volume increased from 2.39 mL / g to 2.57 mL / g. These issues have been confirmed by some analysis such as fine granulation, low ash content, high gluten index, some farinogram, and extensigram properties, and finally better performance in bread making was observed.     

Stimulation of antioxidant activity and γ-aminobutyric acid synthesis in germinated wheat grain Triticum aestivum L. by ultrasound: Increasing the nutritional value of the product

The use of ultrasound to intensify the germination process of Triticum aestivum L. wheat was studied. This method of controlled germination can be used in several sectors of food industry, in particular in bakery. The effect of low-frequency ultrasound (20 kHz) at different intensities and duration on the germination process of Triticum aestivum L. wheat was systematically studied. We have found that 3-minute processing at 227 W/l output reduces the duration of wheat grain germination by 25% (12 ± 2 h) compared to the control samples. The use of ultrasound stimulated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis (18.9 ± 0.5 mg/100 g), increased the antioxidant activity (AOA) (2.86 ± 0.2 mg/g Trolox equivalents) and the amount of flavonoids (0.19 ± 0.03 mg QE/g). The SEM analysis of powder particles of whole-wheat flour made from wheat germinated with ultrasound exposure showed densely packed aggregates of protein matrix. To sum up, controlled ultrasound during wheat grain germination increases the amount of GABA and AOA. The whole-wheat flour is useful for food enrichment.     

Effect of ultrasound on structural and physicochemical properties of sweetpotato and wheat flours

Ultrasound technologies are increasingly used for modification of physicochemical properties of food systems. Effects of ultrasound (20 kHz, 750 W) up to 20 h on physicochemical properties of two varieties of sweetpotato flour were studied and compared with those of commercial wheat flour. Ultrasound induced structural modifications on starch granules mainly in the morphological changes of granules and reduction of the crystallinity. Longer treatment significantly decreased enthalpy change of gelatinization, pasting viscosities, gelling capacity, while increasing in vitro starch digestibility of raw flour. Besides, prolonged treatment reduced total phenolic contents and in vitro antioxidant activities of sweetpotato flours, mainly due to pyrolysis and release of hydroxyl radicals caused by cavitation. The extents of these changes were seen to depend on the treatment time and indicated degradation and modifications of the chemical components (e.g., starch and polyphenol) of flours. This study suggests that ultrasound processing as a non-thermal and energy-saving technique has potential to modify flour functionalities.     

Ultrasound-Assisted Surface-Modification of Wood Particulates for Improved Wood/Plastic Composites

The combined effects of alkali and ultrasound treatment of wood flour on the mechanical properties of polypropylene-based wood/plastic composites (WPCs) were examined. FT-IR measurements confirmed that the alkali treatment removed both hemicellulose and lignin from the wood, and there was an increase in the number of hydroxyl groups on the cellulose surface. This process was promoted by ultrasound treatment. Mechanical testing of injection-molded WPC samples revealed that alkali treatment improved both composite strength and modulus when polypropylene grafted with maleic acid was used as a coupling agent. The strength increase is due to improved adhesion between the fiber and matrix, while improved modulus is due to the removal of lignin and hemicellulose that are not as stiff as cellulose. Polarized optical microscopy showed the presence of well-defined polymer crystals on the surface of the modified wood, and this is also responsible for the improved mechanical properties. It is conclusively demonstrated that the combination of chemical treatment of wood and ultrasound assistance is more effective in improving the mechanical properties of the composites than the use of chemical treatment alone.     

基于拉曼成像技术的面粉中抗坏血酸添加剂定量检测研究

抗坏血酸是一种常见的面粉品质改良剂,用于改善面团的流变学特性及面包的烘焙品质。本研究以面粉中含不同浓度抗坏血酸的混合样品为研究对象,通过拉曼成像技术实现面粉中抗坏血酸的检测、识别和定量分析。分别采集面粉、抗坏血酸和面粉-抗坏血酸混合样品的拉曼图像,确定感兴趣区域及光谱范围,以抗坏血酸拉曼光谱中强度较高且区别于面粉的3处拉曼峰（631,1 128和1 658 cm-1）为依据对混合样品的平均拉曼光谱进行分析,结果显示其不能有效评估面粉中抗坏血酸含量,研究探索对图像中各像素点对应的拉曼光谱进行分析以实现面粉中抗坏血酸的有效检测。以混合样品图像中各像素点拉曼光谱作为校正集、面粉平均拉曼光谱和抗坏血酸平均拉曼光谱的线性组合光谱作为验证集建立偏最小二乘模型,模型的回归系数用于将混合样品的三维拉曼图像重建为二维灰度图像,通过阈值分割实现面粉中抗坏血酸的检测和识别,根据识别结果建立定量分析模型。结果显示,偏最小二乘模型的最高和最低回归系数分别对应于抗坏血酸和面粉的最强拉曼峰,所有回归系数应用于混合样品拉曼图像将其转换为灰度图像后面粉和抗坏血酸的像素点仍难以识别,阈值分割方法将灰度图像转换为用于分类面粉像素和抗坏血酸像素的二值图像实现了面粉中抗坏血酸的有效检测。通过分析各浓度混合样品对应子样品中识别到的抗坏血酸像素点数确定本研究对面粉中抗坏血酸的最低检测浓度为0.01%（100 mg·kg-1）,混合样品中抗坏血酸浓度同图像中识别到的抗坏血酸像素点在0.01%~0.20%范围内具有良好的线性关系,决定系数为0.996 0。研究结果可为面粉中抗坏血酸添加剂的定量检测提供方法支持,为大规模快速筛查提供了技术参考。     

Continuous monitoring of dough fermentation and bread baking by magnetic resonance microscopy

The consumer quality of baked products is closely related with dough structure properties. These are developed during dough fermentation and finalized during its baking. In this study, magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) was employed in a study of dough fermentation and baking. A small hot air oven was installed inside a 2.35-T horizontal bore superconducting magnet. Four different samples of commercial bread mixes for home baking were used to prepare small samples of dough that were inserted in the oven and allowed to rise at 33°C for 112 min; this was followed by baking at 180°C for 49 min. The entire process was followed by dynamic T₁-weighted 3D magnetic resonance imaging with 7 min of temporal resolution and 0.23×0.23×1.5 mm³ of spatial resolution. Acquired images were analyzed to determine time courses of dough pore distribution, dough volume and bread crust thickness. Image analysis showed that both the number of dough pores and the normalized dough volume increased in a sigmoid-like fashion during fermentation and decreased during baking due to the bread crust formation. The presented magnetic resonance method was found to be efficient in analysis of dough structure properties and in discrimination between different dough types.     

Ultrasound-assisted fabrication of gluten-free dough for automatic producing dumplings

Nowadays celiac disease is becoming more common. It is the autonomic genetic disease that is accompanied by damage to the intestines due to a reaction to eating some proteins. People who are suffering from celiac disease cannot eat food containing gluten, including dough made from gluten-containing seeds. But the gluten-free dough has commonly bad rheological properties and cannot be used for automatic molding the dumplings. In this article, we propose the ultrasonic-assisted technology to fabricate the gluten-free dough with improved rheological properties acceptable for automatic molding of the dumplings. Application of ultrasonic treatment at a frequency of 35 kHz during the dough preparation leads to the homogenization of the dough structure and changing the rheological properties of the dough.The ultrasound induces mechanical, physical and chemical/biochemical changes of the dough components through cavitation. The sonication causes a doubled dough volume increase followed by an additional mass yield of the dumplings equal 2–10% per kilogram of dough. Besides extra beneficial economic effect, our technology provides an additional sterilization effect of the fabricated dough.     

近红外光谱法定量测定小麦粉中的石灰类添加物的研究

小麦粉的质量安全一直备受社会各界关注。在比较生石灰、熟石灰和碳酸钙的近红外光谱特征的基础上,采集了掺入不同含量的生石灰、熟石灰和碳酸钙的小麦粉样品的近红外漫反射光谱。采用偏最小二乘算法结合交互验证算法建立了石灰和碳酸钙的近红外定量校正模型,采用外部检验集对各模型进行外部验证。结果表明,石灰、碳酸钙的模型测定系数(R2)分别为99.80%和96.98%;校正集均方根误差分别为0.19和0.34;交互验证集均方根误差分别为0.26和0.75;预测集均方根误差分别为0.63和0.44;相对预测性能RPD分别为8.57和5.24。模型具有较高的精度,可以满足小麦粉中石灰含量的现场快速检测要求。F检验结果表明,模型的校正集、外部检验集的预测值-化学值之间具有极显著的相关关系。本研究可为小麦粉快速质量安全筛查提供参考方法,对小麦粉质量监控具有重要意义。     

Effect of different ratios of wheat to corn flour in the diet on the development and isotopic composition (δ13C, δ15N) of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

The back-calculation of the diet is a common application of stable isotopes in animal ecology. The method is based on a predictable relation between the isotopic signature of the diet and the animal’s tissues. Frequently, the assumption of a constant difference in isotopic signatures (trophic shift) is made. Carbon isotopic ratios of C₃ and C₄ plants differ by approximately 10 ‰, making wheat (C₃-plant) and corn (C₄-plant) ideal materials for isotopic studies in nutritional ecology and especially for testing the back-calculation method. In this experiment, red flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum, were reared on wheat flour, corn flour and three different mixtures thereof, either in pure flour or with the addition of yeast inoculum or yeast grains. Development of T. castaneum on these experimental diets was monitored, and isotopic signatures of carbon and nitrogen in emerging adults were analysed. The values of trophic shift of C and N isotopes for wheat and corn flour were different, and the values for the mixtures did not correspond to those expected from a linear mixing model. The latter can be taken as an indication that the tiny larvae of T. castaneum may be capable of differentiating between particles of wheat and corn flour, making this animal model unsuitable for testing the back-calculation method.     

小麦呕吐毒素污染可见/近红外光谱快速筛查方法研究

小麦不仅是我国主要的粮食品种,也是一种重要的饲料和工业原料。小麦易受赤霉病感染从而产生呕吐毒素,学名脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇（DON）,具有一定致癌性,对人畜健康构成严重威胁。尤其近年来极端异常气候频发,小麦DON污染风险呈不断上升趋势,已成为影响其产品质量安全的主要因素。然而,传统DON检测方法过程繁琐、耗时费力,因此发展一种快速、低成本且适用于在线的检测方法对小麦安全生产及加工具有重要意义。首先从江苏各地收集不同赤霉病感染程度的小麦样品200份,磨粉后利用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱联用法（UPLC-MS/MS）测定小麦中DON含量,再利用光谱仪在线采集小麦的可见/近红外光谱。数据处理步骤为：采用多元散射校正以及二阶导数对光谱进行预处理,同时根据竞争性自适应权重取样算法提取特征波长,最后利用线性判别分析（LDA）与偏最小二乘判别分析法（PLS-DA）建立小麦粉样品的定性分析模型（以国家标准1 000 μg·kg-1为界限）,根据偏最小二乘回归（PLSR）建立小麦粉样品DON含量定量分析模型。UPLC-MS/MS结果表明小麦DON污染风险较高,所测样品超标率约为50%。可见/近红外光谱分析表明不同DON含量小麦样品光谱特征具有一定的差异,原始光谱和二阶导数谱图可看出1 420 nm处DON含量越高,吸光度越低。由于DON绝对含量低而光谱仪的检测限有限,通过主成分分析未能发现明显的聚类趋势,但根据全光谱以及特征光谱所构建的LDA与PLS-DA判别模型均能够对超标和未超标样品进行快速识别与筛查,最佳识别率达87.69%。从定量分析结果来看,所构建的小麦样品DON含量的PLSR模型结果不太理想,最优模型结果：预测集相关系数（r_p）为0.688,均方根误差（RMSEP）为727 μg·kg-1,相对分析偏差（RPD）值为1.38,模型精度和稳健性有待进一步提升。利用可见/近红外光谱和化学计量学方法,实现小麦DON含量超标与否的在线判别与筛查,为我国小麦产品质量安全快速检测提供了技术参考。但对DON含量的定量分析还需要进一步研究,探究外部因素对模型的影响,并拟扩大样品量,收集不同地区、不同品种的小麦样品,提高模型的精度及普适性。     

粉末进样ICP—AES法测定大米,小麦,茶叶中的微量元素

由于ICP采用加电弧装置,使等离子体性能有所改善,提高了样品的蒸发效率,一定程度上抑制了基体效应和粒度效应,对样品中Cu、Zn、Fe、Mg、Pb、Co、Ba等元素的测定,取得较好的效果。     

Air-coupled ultrasonic evaluation of food materials

This research was performed with the aim of detecting foreign bodies and additives within food products, and to measure selected acoustic properties, without contact to the sample. This would allow use in manufacturing plants on production lines, where contacting the product for ultrasonic inspection would not be feasible. Images of internal structure are reported. The air-coupled system uses capacitive devices which are able to provide sufficient bandwidth for many measurements, including the detection of foreign bodies in cheese, the detection of deliberate additives to chocolate, the detection of fill level and content of metallic food cans, and measurements of frozen dough products. The approach demonstrates that ultrasound has the potential for application to many industrial food packaging environments where non-metallic objects within food need to be detected.     

Estimation of dynamic parameters of overthreshold parametric phase conjugation of ultrasound in magnetostrictive ferrites according to data of quasi-static measurements

A simple method for testing ferrite samples intended to be active elements of parametric phase conjugator of ultrasound was proposed and experimentally approved. The method allows one to estimate such dynamic parameters of parametric phase conjugator of ultrasound as the parametric amplification increment, threshold of absolute parametric instability, and optimum operating point position for a particular sample using results of measurements in a dc magnetic field. Results for two ferrite samples of different compositions and properties were compared to direct measurement data; their satisfactory agreement was obtained.     

Effect of different ratios of wheat to corn flour in the diet on the development and isotopic composition (delta13C, delta15N) of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

The back-calculation of the diet is a common application of stable isotopes in animal ecology. The method is based on a predictable relation between the isotopic signature of the diet and the animal's tissues. Frequently, the assumption of a constant difference in isotopic signatures (trophic shift) is made. Carbon isotopic ratios of C(3) and C(4) plants differ by approximately 10 per thousand, making wheat (C(3)-plant) and corn (C(4)-plant) ideal materials for isotopic studies in nutritional ecology and especially for testing the back-calculation method. In this experiment, red flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum, were reared on wheat flour, corn flour and three different mixtures thereof, either in pure flour or with the addition of yeast inoculum or yeast grains. Development of T. castaneum on these experimental diets was monitored, and isotopic signatures of carbon and nitrogen in emerging adults were analysed. The values of trophic shift of C and N isotopes for wheat and corn flour were different, and the values for the mixtures did not correspond to those expected from a linear mixing model. The latter can be taken as an indication that the tiny larvae of T. castaneum may be capable of differentiating between particles of wheat and corn flour, making this animal model unsuitable for testing the back-calculation method.     

Effect of ultrasound-assisted resting on the quality of surimi-wheat dough and noodles

In this study, the influence of ultrasound-assisted resting at different power on the rheological properties, water distribution and structural characteristics of dough with 50 % surimi as well as the texture, cooking and microstructure characteristics of the surimi-wheat noodles were investigated. Compared with the fermentation control (FC) noodles, the microstructure, cooking and texture characteristics of noodles (≤24.00 W/L) were significantly (p < 0.05) improved after ultrasonic treating. As the increasing of ultrasonic power, compared to FC, the creep strain, recovery strain, semi-bound water, and free sulfhydryl (SH) contents of surimi-wheat dough decreased at first and then increased significantly (p < 0.05). The α-helix and β-turn content of dough increased at first and then decreased after ultrasonic treatment, while the β-sheet was reversed. The surimi-wheat dough network structure was improved by ultrasonic treatment, with the densest and continuous pore size in 21.33 W/L, but the dough structure was broken and loose (>21.33 W/L), which consisted of the hardness, elasticity, chewiness, resistant and cooked quality of surimi-wheat noodles. This work elucidated the effect of ultrasonic power on the performance of surimi-wheat dough, and the optimal ultrasound power was obtained, thereby improving the nutritional properties and the quality of surimi-wheat noodles.     

基于高光谱技术的蛋白粉掺假检测研究

蛋白粉是健身者必备的营养补剂,市场需求在不断增加,一些不法商家为了谋取利益,在蛋白粉中加入廉价的粉末售卖。传统的蛋白粉掺杂的检测方法费时、费力,操作复杂,且成本昂贵。高光谱技术具有易于操作、在不损害实验样本的情况下可快速检测等优点,因此,提出使用高光谱技术以实现蛋白粉掺假检测。在蛋白粉中分别加入质量百分数5%～60%,浓度间隔5%的三类掺假物（玉米粉、大米粉和小麦粉）,并采集所有样本的光谱信息。在对蛋白粉中的玉米粉、大米粉和小麦粉三类掺假物进行定性判别时,首先分别采用卷积平滑（SG）、标准化（Normalize）、多元散射校正法（MSC）、基线校正（Baseline）和标准正态变换（SNV）的预处理方法对光谱数据进行处理,然后建立基于主成分回归（PCR）、反向传播神经网络（BPNN）和随机森林（RF）的模型,其中基于全波段光谱MSC预处理方法下建立的RF模型最优,其整体准确率达到了100%,其对应的R_P和RMSEP分别为0.997 9和0.018 9。在对蛋白粉中不同掺假物浓度进行定量分析时,对三类掺假样本的光谱分别进行SG,Normalize,MSC,Baseline和SNV的预处理,并建立LSSVM模型;比较不同预处理方法下的各模型之间的性能,在蛋白粉中掺玉米粉、大米粉和小麦粉的LSSVM预测模型最佳预处理方法分别是无、Baseline和Normalize,然后,采用连续投影算法（SPA）和竞争性自适应重加权算法（CARS）对其筛选,并建立LSSVM模型,三类掺假样本的SPA-LSSVM模型对应的R_P为0.989 0,0.986 0和0.997 9,CARS-LSSVM模型对应的R_P为0.991 0,0.994 6和0.999 1,故三类掺假样本的CARS-LSSVM模型预测效果更佳。研究表明：高光谱技术可以实现对蛋白粉掺假的定性、定量的检测,并且操作简单、检测快速和无损。     

漫透射近红外光谱的便携式面粉品质安全检测仪的设计

基于近红外漫透射光谱分析技术,设计了便携式面粉品质安全检测仪,该检测仪主要包括光谱采集模块、光源控制模块、处理与显示模块以及电源模块.其中漫透射检测附件不仅可以实现光谱补偿功能,还可以有效避免外界杂散光的干扰,设计了控制光源开关的电路,通过实验确定样品的最佳厚度.选用树莓派4B作为核心处理器,选用可充电锂电池供电,仪器...