International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2015, 50, 2509–2518 2509

Review
Composition and functionality of wheat bran and its application
in some cereal food products

Oluwatoyin O. Onipe,* Afam I. O. Jideani & Daniso Beswa

Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, Limpopo
Province, South Africa
(Received 10 May 2015; Accepted in revised form 11 July 2015)

Summary Production of wheat bran (WB) for human consumption is estimated to be about 90 million tonnes per
year. WB is a cheap and abundant source of dietary fibre which has been linked to improved bowel
health and possible prevention of some diseases such as colon cancer. It also contains minerals, vitamins
and bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids, arabinoxylans, alkylresorcinol and phytosterols. These
compounds have been suggested as an aid in prevention of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovas-
cular disease. This article discusses WB extraction, its nutritional properties, potential health benefits,
effects on quality and sensory properties of some cereal foods, and its application in some baked products
as well as in fried cereal snacks, as an additive for oil reduction and fibre enrichment.
Keywords Antioxidants, dietary fibre, extraction, fried cereal snacks, functionality, nutritional composition, Wheat bran.

nutritional composition of WB, effects of WB inclu-

Introduction
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a leading cereal crop
which is mainly utilised for human consumption and
livestock feed. A wheat kernel comprises three princi-
pal fractions – bran, germ and endosperm. The outer
layers are all parts of the bran (Fig. 1). The bran frac-
tion is a by-product of milling and has food (Curti
et al., 2013) and nonfood applications (Apprich et al.,
2013). The use of wheat bran (WB) for human con-
sumption has increased gradually over the years. Glob-
ally, the number of WB-incorporated food products
increased from 52 in 2001 to approximately 800 in
2011 (Pr€ uckler et al., 2014). WB is rich in minerals,
fibre, B vitamins and bioactive compounds which are
known to possess health-promoting properties (Rei-
singer et al., 2013). Treatment processes to assess the
functional ingredients from WB have been studied
(Rosa et al., 2013). The awareness of consumers and
their demand for healthier foods led to the exploration
and incorporation of ingredients from natural sources
in food production. As indicated by Pr€ uckler et al.
(2014), of all bran-incorporated food groups cate-
gorised, bakery and cereals topped the chart with
approximately 60% market share. Over the years, WB
has received more attention in baked foods and
recently in fried cereal foods. This article examines the
*Correspondent: E-mail: 14004637@mvula.univen.ac.za
sion on quality and sensory properties of cereal foods,
and possible application of WB in fried cereal snacks
as a potential functional ingredient that can serve as a
barrier layer which could reduce oil migration into
food during frying.
Extraction of wheat bran
Bran makes up about 13–19% of total wheat grain
weight depending on the milling process (wet or dry)
used for its extraction (Hossain et al., 2013). The dry
milling process involves separation of bran from the
endosperm – which is further ground into fine flour.
Extraction of bran from wheat grains is achieved at a
highly efficient rate using a roller mill. Before milling,
the wheat grains are first tempered through spraying
of water to about 15% moisture content (De Brier
et al., 2014) and later transferred into tempering bin.
Tempering duration is dependent on the hardness of
the wheat. During this conditioning process, the peri-
carp and germ layer of the kernel absorbs water, and
the endosperm is softened for the extraction process.
Conditioning also prevents the bran from breaking
during separation from the endosperm. In the roller
mill, the conditioned grains are passed through coun-
ter-rotating corrugated metal rolls where the kernels
are cracked open, and the endosperm and germ are
removed from the pericarp (Serna-Saldivar, 2010). The

doi:10.1111/ijfs.12935
© 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
2510 Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al.
Figure 1 Wheat grain structure. Adapted from Surget & Barron (2005) and Brouns et al. (2012) with permission.
cracked grains are then separated into germ, endo-
sperm and bran fractions (Apprich et al., 2013). Bran
is considered a major by-product from flour milling,
and about 90% is used as a livestock feed while only
10% is used in food industry as fibre source in bakery,
fried foods and breakfast cereals (Hossain et al.,
2013). The extracted bran can be used as food supple-
ment and livestock feed. It can also be milled with the
rest of the wheat kernel components for whole wheat
flour (Serna-Saldivar, 2010), but this takes more
mechanical energy and resources. Other bran extrac-
tion processes are pearling, peeling and bran fractiona-
tion which yield bran with enhanced nutritional
quality (De Brier et al., 2015). The removal of the
outer layers of wheat kernel by friction and abrasion
is known as ‘pearling’. This process is used with
durum wheat and rice milling, but not frequently
employed with the common wheat. Pearling can be
used to extract aleurone-rich wheat bran, in order to
enrich flour and other wheat-based food products (De
Brier et al., 2014).
Nutritional composition of wheat bran
Wheat bran (WB) is subdivided into three distinct
layers, viz testa, aleurone and pericarp. WB is com-
posed of about 53% dietary fibre (xylans, lignin, cel-
lulose, and galactan, fructans). Other components
include vitamins and minerals (Table 1) and bioac-
tive compounds such as alkylresorcinols, ferulic acid,
flavonoids, carotenoids, lignans and sterols (Apprich
et al., 2013; Andersson et al., 2014; De Brier et al.,
2014). The pericarp is divided into outer and inner
International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015
layers, which contains insoluble dietary fibre as well
as phenolic acids in bound state. (Apprich et al.,
2013). The hyaline layer is also known as the nucel-
lar tissue, and it belongs to the intermediate layer of
the bran. Alkylresorcinol is primarily localised in the
testa layer (Rebolleda et al., 2013). The aleurone
layer is the innermost layer of the bran, and it is
partly shared by the endosperm. It contains a rich
stock of lignans and proteins with balanced amino
acid content, bioactive compounds, phytic acid,
antioxidants, vitamins and minerals (Javed et al.,
2012). Aleurone has gained increasing research atten-
tion, and it is still currently being studied as func-
tional ingredient in cereal foods. The rich stock of
nutrients in aleurone culminates in the healthy added
value of WB and whole-grain cereals consumption in
the prevention of some diseases. This nutritional
composition translates into WB having functionality
in cereal foods.
Minerals found in WB include iron (Fe), zinc (Zn),
manganese (Mn), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus
(P). About 80% of P in mature cereal seeds is stored
as phytates which forms complexes with other minerals
such as Fe, Zn and Mg. This complex formation
reduces bioavailability of these minerals. Over the
years, successful attempts to reduce phytic acid in WB
include hydrothermal treatment, size reduction, enzy-
matic treatment, malting, soaking and fermentation
(Aivaz & Mosharraf, 2013; Coda et al., 2014). The
action of endogenous phytase in the grain and exoge-
nous phytase from yeast and sourdough fermentation
can also release the phytic acid complexed minerals
(Brouns et al., 2012).
© 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)
 Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al. 2511

Table 1 General composition of wheat bran (Prinsen et al., 2014; Sang & Zhu, 2014). The mode of
action of WB in cancer prevention is more than its
Range
fibre content, or a particular phytochemical, but rather
Bran component % dm Reference
the cumulative effect of the diverse bioactive phyto-
Dietary fibre 33.4–63.0 Curti et al. (2013) chemicals in the bran (Liu et al., 2012). Some WB
Moisture 8.1–12.7 Curti et al. (2013) components are discussed below, and their potential
Ash 3.9–8.10 Curti et al. (2013) health benefits are highlighted in Table 2.
Protein 9.60–18.6 Curti et al. (2013);
Yan et al. (2015)
Total carbohydrates 60.0–75.0 Javed et al., 2012; Dietary fibre
Starch 9.10–38.9 Curti et al. (2013);
Yan et al. (2015)
Whole-grain foods are a rich stock of dietary fibre (DF)
– a complex compound consisting of cellulose, hemicel-
Phytochemicals lg g 1
lulose and pentosan polymers based on xylose and ara-
binose attached to proteins (Apprich et al., 2013). DF
Alkylresorcinol 489–1429 Luthria et al. (2015)
Phytosterols 344–2050 Fardet (2010)
has been defined as remnants of edible plant cell
Ferulic acid 1376–1918 Kim et al. (2006);
polysaccharides, lignin and other substances which
Brouns et al. (2012) escape hydrolytic enzymatic digestion in the upper gas-
Bound phenolic compound 4.73–2020 Kim et al. (2006); trointestinal tract. It is the indigestible carbohydrates of
Brewer et al. (2014) plant origin with a heterogeneous chemical structure
Flavonoids 3000–4300 Fardet (2010); that is resistant to the effects of digestive enzymes in the
Brewer et al. (2014) human gut (Almeida et al., 2013). WB is high in DF
Micronutrients mg per 100 g
and it ranges from 33.4% to 63.0%; it can be classified
as ‘soluble’ or ‘insoluble dietary fibre’ based on their sol-
Phosphorus 900–1500 Fardet (2010); ubility in water. Soluble dietary fibre (SDF) in WB is
Brouns et al. (2012) <5% of total dietary fibre, and it consists of glucan and
Magnesium 530–1030 Brouns et al. (2012) xylans (Brouns et al., 2012). A blasting extrusion pro-
Zinc 8.3–14.0 Brouns et al. (2012)
cess was recently developed, and this unit operation was
Iron 1.9–34.0 Fardet (2010);
applied to WB with the objective of increasing its SDF
Brouns et al. (2012)
Manganese 0.9–10.1 Fardet (2010);
content (Yan et al., 2015). The authors reported a sig-
Brouns et al. (2012) nificant increase of 70% SDF and improved oil reten-
Vitamin E 0.13–9.5 Fardet (2010) tion capacity, water retention capacity and swelling
(Tocopherols/tocotrienol) capacity of the SDF from this process. Functionality of
B Vitamins WB could therefore find application in foods where oil
Thiamin (B1) 0.51–1.6 Fardet (2010) absorption in fried cereal food and where high swelling
Riboflavin (B2) 0.20–0.80 Fardet (2010); capacity are of importance.
Brouns et al. (2012) Most of the health benefits of WB are associated with
Pyridoxine (B6) 0.30–1.30 Brouns et al. (2012)
but not limited to its DF content. Water swelling, holding
Folate (B9) 0.088–0.80 Fardet (2010)
(2.8–3.6 g g 1) and retention capacities of DF in WB
Dm, dry matter. have been associated with other health functions, viz
reduction in plasma cholesterol, laxative ability and
reduction in blood glucose (Patel, 2015). Furthermore,
Functional and potential health properties of
DF may help in maintaining positive health in the gut,
wheat bran
appetite regulation and prolonged satiety. Kristensen
Bran plays a key role in the overall health benefits of et al. (2010) in their study revealed that subjects who ate
whole grains. Although not elucidated, WB in clinical whole wheat bread had increased satiety in comparison
trials and epidemiological studies show that consump- with their counterparts who consumed refined wheat
tion of foods high in fibre has been linked with bread. This sign of fullness or satiety can be attributed to
reduced risk of diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes, increased viscosity and low energy density (Otles € &
obesity and cardiovascular disease probably due to the Ozgoz, 2014). Reasons for these include large water
phytochemicals (phenolic acids, sterols, alkylresorcinol, absorption of viscous DF, reduced gut transit time,
vitamin E, minerals) and fibre which are embedded in increased digesta viscosity in the small intestine, increased
the bran (Andersson et al., 2014; Pr€ uckler et al., stool bulk and short-chain fatty acid production, in the
2014). These bioactive compounds in WB tissues vary colon, due to fermentation of the fibre (Almeida et al.,
because of cultivar, genetic and environmental factors 2013). Although there have been suggestions that WB
(Hossain et al., 2013). Studies have shown that WB is fibre helps in weight regulation, after examining several
one of the cereal bran with strong anticancer effect studies, EFSA (2010) conclude that there seems not to be

© 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)
2512 Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al.
Table 2 Wheat bran components and their potential benefits
Component Functionality
Dietary fibre Increased viscosity in gut and reduced
postprandial glycemic response
Arabinoxylan Oestrogenic effect/antitumour properties
Lignans Anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties.
Inhibition of LDL oxidation
Phenolic Compounds Inhibits absorption of cholesterol in the
small intestine
Phytosterols, tocopherols Inhibits cholesterol absorption
enough evidence to establish that WB fibre helps in regu-
lation or maintenance of normal human body weight.
Arabinoxylans
Arabinoxylan (AX) is a fibre that has a b-D-xylan
backbone with arabinose side chains linked by a-1, 2
and a-1, 3 glycosidic linkages. The content of AX in
WB ranges between 5.0 and 26.9 g per 100 g of WB
(Fardet, 2010). Chemical, mechanical and enzymatic
methods of extraction have been employed to isolate
AX in WB. Hell et al. (2015) in their comparative
study of mechanical, enzymatic and chemical pretreat-
ments for AX extraction from WB found out that
extensive ball milling offered the most reassuring meth-
ods, as there was only mechanical effort applied. On
the other hand, chemical and enzymatic extraction
affected the results because of co-extraction of other
components other than AX. Extraction of AX from
WB was previously carried out by electrostatic separa-
tion. It was revealed that sieving after electrostatic sep-
aration yielded maximum AX content of 43% dry
matter (Wang et al., 2015). AX is reported to show
antioxidative properties in vitro, possibly because phe-
nolic compounds are covalently linked to arabinoxy-
lans (Maki et al., 2012). In a study with 55 subjects
where an AX oligosaccharide was administered in
breakfast cereal at dosage between 2.2 and 4.8 g g 1
over a 3-week period, there was a significant increase
in faecal bifidobacteria and postprandial ferulic acid
concentration in the serum (Maki et al., 2012). It was
recently stated that arabinoxylans may reduce post-
prandial glycemic response by maintaining viscosity in
the gut, thereby reducing the risk of developing type II
diabetes, but this was obtained from arabinoxylans of
wheat endosperm (Bernstein et al., 2013; Pr€ uckler
et al., 2014 and reference therein; EFSA, 2011).
Phytochemical and antioxidant properties
The chemical (De Brier et al., 2015) and antioxidant
(Rosa et al., 2013; Brewer et al., 2014) properties of WB
International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015 © 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Impact on health Reference
Laxative effect, lowered blood cholesterol level. Javed et al. (2012).
Colon cancer prevention.
Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and Wang et al. (2015)
type II diabetes
Reduced risk of breast, and prostate cancer Andersson et al. (2014)
Reduced risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular Sang & Zhu (2014);
disease Luthria et al. (2015)
Reduced plasma cholesterol Fardet (2010); Javed
et al. (2012)
have also been investigated. Examples of phytochemi-
cals in cereal grains include flavonoids, phenolic acids,
tocopherols, lignans, phytosterols and carotenoids
(Belobrajdic & Bird, 2013). Phenolic acids are the most
complex class of phytochemicals found abundantly in
the bran of cereal grains, and they are derivatives of cin-
namic and benzoic acid. The cinnamic acid class of phe-
nolic compounds includes ferulic acid, sinapic and p-
coumaric acid (Luthria et al., 2015). Phenolic acids in
WB exist in bound and free state, with around 99% of
ferulic acid in WB in insoluble bound state (Lu et al.,
2014). The antioxidant property of WB is mainly deter-
mined by their phenolic acid content and has been inves-
tigated and elucidated in the literature by other
researchers (Belobrajdic & Bird, 2013; Gunenc et al.,
2013; Andersson et al., 2014; Brewer et al., 2014). Phy-
tosterols found in WB lower serum cholesterol by
inhibiting cholesterol absorption (Pr€ uckler et al., 2014)
and as such may prevent inflammation and cancer.
Free-radical inhibiting capacity of WB can be mea-
sured through ferric reducing antioxidant power,
diphenylpicrylhydrazyl and oxygen radical absorbance
capacity assays (Brewer et al., 2014). WB has been
suggested as having anti-inflammatory properties. This
was demonstrated in the study of Price et al. (2012)
where subjects consumed aleurone-enriched products
or refined products. The results revealed a significant
reduction in C-reactive protein – a marker of inflam-
mation, as well as a risk factor for cardiovascular dis-
ease. Although the study was short term; it can be
inferred that continued consumption of whole-grain or
WB-enriched cereal foods can help prevent cardiovas-
cular diseases.
Extraction of phenolic compounds from WB have
been achieved through both conventional methods (e.g.
distillation and Soxhlet extraction), and recently through
advanced technologies such as micro-fluidisation, ultra-
sonic-assisted extraction and pressurised liquid extrac-
tion (Rebolleda et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2013; Povilaitis
et al., 2015). Various processing methods such as wheat
grain germination (Anson et al., 2012), enzymatic treat-
ment, milling, electrostatic separation (Hemery et al.,
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)

2011), ultrafine grinding, bread making, yeast and sour-
dough fermentation (Coda et al., 2015) can expedite
extractability or bio-accessibility of phenolic acid and
other bioactive compounds in WB. For instance, in the
study of Rosa et al. (2013), ultrafine grinding of WB
increased surface area which in turn increased its antiox-
idant capacity. When the surface area is increased at
least twice, antioxidant capacity of the bran fractions
was reported to increase from 30 to
45 mmol TEAC kg 1. This increase can be explained
thus: as mechanical force of the grinding is applied, phe-
nolic acid in the aleurone cell wall becomes accessible
and extractable and this in turn contributes to increase
in antioxidant capacity. This was also supported by the
findings of Brewer et al. (2014) where size reduction
from coarse (900 lm) to fine (200 lm) increased the
extractability of bound phenolic acid (4.73–
6.72 mg FAE g 1), carotenoids, anthocyanin, and fla-
vonoids contents in WB. Ferulic acid content of bread,
muffin and cookie increased during baking (Abdel-Aal
& Rabalski, 2013).
Measurement of phenolic acid in humans as a result
of whole-grain wheat food consumption has also been
investigated. WB phenolics may improve antioxidant
status in humans as revealed in a randomised cross-
over study by Price et al. (2008). Antioxidant effect of
phenolics of unprocessed wheat bran was tested in 17
adults. Consumption of 93 g of wheat bran signifi-
cantly increased antioxidant potential and total pheno-
lics in the urine and plasma of subjects. Also in a
clinical trial recently carried out by Vitaglione et al.
(2015), the assessment of metabolic biomarkers of phe-
nolic acid was determined in faecal, serum and urine
samples of eighty healthy obese/overweight test sub-
jects over a period of 8 weeks, where all refined wheat
products they normally consume were replaced with
70 g whole-grain wheat product daily (7.1 g per day of
DF). Assessments revealed a 4- and 2-fold increase in
serum dihydroferulic acid concentration and faecal fer-
ulic acid, respectively, accompanied with reduction in
plasma tumour necrosis factor-a. By implication, WB
processed or unprocessed can be used as a functional
food supplement.
Alkylresorcinols (ARs) are also referred to as phe-
nolic lipids and are abundantly found in WB (Anson
et al., 2012). Although known as short-term biomark-
ers for whole-grain wheat, rye and bran intake, it was
recently suggested that plasma AR can be used as
stable long-term biomarkers (Landberg et al., 2013).
Extraction of ARs from WB has been analysed by sol-
vents such as cyclohexane, methanol and dichloro-
methane using various chromatographic methods
(Luthria et al., 2015). Alkylresorcinols found in the
WB may function as antioxidant, protecting low-den-
sity lipoprotein (LDL) from oxidation damage in vitro.
Liu et al. (2012) reported that four of seven pure com-
© 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)
Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al. 2513
pounds from AR fraction of WB impacted high inhibi-
tory effect against human prostrate adenocarcinoma
cells (Luthria et al., 2015).
Betaine, a methyl donor, which also acts as an
osmolyte and a lipotrope, is present abundantly in the
aleurone layer of WB and has been recovered in
human plasma upon intake. During a 4-week interven-
tion trial investigated by Price et al. (2010), aleurone-
enriched bread rolls and ready-to-eat cereal containing
a daily dose of 27 g aleurone were consumed by par-
ticipants. There was a significant increase in intake
and plasma betaine concentrations and a simultaneous
decrease in plasma homocysteine in the individuals
who consumed aleurone-rich product in comparison
with control group who consumed refined products.
This reduction in plasma homocysteine (a risk factor
for cardiovascular disease) can be attributed to the
remethylating action of betaine. From these results,
WB can be suggested as a functional food ingredient
possessing positive health benefits. Incorporation of
WB and/or its bioactive extracts in doughnut-like
products and their effects on phytochemical bioavail-
ability in vitro/in vivo can be further studied to buttress
the fact that phytochemicals from WB do impact posi-
tively on human health, especially in developing coun-
tries where these fried snacks are highly consumed.
Effect of wheat bran on sensory properties and
quality of some cereal products
The effects of WB addition on sensory properties of
both cereal and noncereal foods have been extensively
studied. These studies revealed that the effect of WB
addition is dependent on the food type (Sozer et al.,
2014), bran particle size (Kim et al., 2013), bran pre-
treatment (Reyes-Perez et al., 2013) and cooking
method used. It appears that the addition of WB at
high concentrations has negative effects on the quality
of the end food product. Lebesi & Tzia (2011)
reported an improved nutritional content of cakes with
10–30% of WB. However, concentration of bran
above 10% adversely affected the appearance, mouth
feel, taste and overall acceptability of the cakes. Kaur
et al. (2012) reported a fairly acceptable overall quality
of pasta which was enriched with 15% of WB, but as
the WB concentration increased, the colour of the
pasta became dark, and there was an increase in water
absorption as well as reduced cooking time. W ojtowicz
& Moscicki (2011) observed that the incorporation of
wheat bran at a range of 5–25% of the flour weight to
pasta formulation extruded at high screw speed in a
single screw extrusion cooker resulted in improved sen-
sory properties, but as the concentration of the bran
was increased beyond 20%, the pasta was sticky with
poor consistency, had floury taste and was hard to
bite. The chicken patties that were prepared with 15%
International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015
2514 Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al.

WB had significantly less cholesterol content than the
control and were moderately liked as indicated by a
score of 7.1 on a 9-point hedonic scale (Talukder &
Sharma, 2010).
Other published works showing sensory and quality
of WB-enriched products are highlighted in Table 3. It
appears that no significant efforts have been made to
enrich fried doughnut-like cereal snacks with WB
(Fig. 2). The literature shows that the substitution of
WB in a wide range of food products has an effect on
consumer acceptance of bran-enriched food products.
This variation in consumer acceptance depends on the
type of food to which WB was added as was observed
by Lebesi & Tzia (2011), Sozer et al. (2014) and differ-
ences in consumer preferences. For instance, Almeida
et al. (2013) reported that bread enriched with WB
had greater acceptance scores compared with other
fibres (locust bean gum and corn resistant starch) at
20% substitution. On the other hand, Sobota et al.
(2015) concluded that up to 30% WB addition in
pasta yielded acceptable sensory attributes comparable
to pasta made from whole-grain durum wheat.
Wheat bran functionality in wheat dough
It has been established that WB fibre interferes with
protein hydration and dilutes gluten network in the
dough because of the presence of hydroxyl groups in
its structure which react with water through hydrogen
bonding, and this in turn increases water absorption
(Coda et al., 2014). The gluten network is not properly
activated because arabinoxylans bind water tightly and
reduce the amount of water available for the gluten
network. This affects dough stability and extends
dough development time. Furthermore, gas retention
and dough resilience is reduced which in turn leads to
low bread volume (Serna-Saldivar, 2010) – this is a
common phenomenon in bread containing bran.
Particle size is another factor to be considered while
considering functionality of WB in cereal products. It
has been reported that ultrafine particles have little or
no effect on physical properties of the final product.
Kim et al. (2012) reported that there was no significant
difference in swelling properties and water-holding
capacity of doughnuts prepared with ultrafine bran
particles (6.87 lm) but weight and volume of dough-
nuts decreased. When the same WB particle size of
6.87 lm was used in bread production, Kim et al.
(2013) reported that springiness, water-holding capac-
ity and hardness of bread increased with WB content.
But when compared to whole wheat flour bread, the
hardness of bread with ultrafine WB was lower.
Increase in dough consistency and decrease in dough
strength were reported for bread dough containing
30% fine bran particle sizes ranging from 155 to
265 lm (Pavlovich-Abril et al., 2015). Extrusion has
been shown to increase the total dietary fibre content
of WB. Incorporation of extruded WB in cookie for-
mulation reduced the glycemic index and increased the
dietary fibre content of the cookies. The results were
dependent on factors such as temperature (60–120 °C),
moisture of extrusion process as well as particle size of

Table 3 Effects of wheat bran (WB) addition on the quality of various cereal products

WB
Food supplementation (%) Effect of WB on food quality Reference

Biscuit 5–30 Dough pasting viscosity reduced with bran addition. DF and protein level Sozer et al. (2014)
increased with increasing bran addition. Low gluten network led to
crumbliness of biscuit. Content of digestible starch reduced with increased
bran addition
Bread 0–20 Reduced crumb luminosity and specific volume. Increased crumb moisture Almeida et al. (2013)
content. Good sensory attributes with increase in WB addition
8.9–9 Increase in total dietary fibre of all breads. Lower a* and b* values in crusts Pavlovich-Abril et al. (2015)
of composite* bread compared to control. Reduced specific loaf volume with
increase in WB addition
7–25 Hardness and springiness increased; loaf volume reduced with bran addition Kim et al. (2013)
Pasta 20–40 WB addition increased ash, total dietary fibre, protein content, chewiness Sobota et al. (2015)
and adhesiveness of pasta. Pasta had harder structure beyond 20% WB
content as well as a lingering after taste in the mouth which resulted in lower
sensory scores.
Noodles 2–6 With increase in WB addition, dough sheet had reduced L values while a* and Song et al. (2013)
b* values increased. Increase in tensile strength and water absorption of cooked
noodles.
Doughnut 1–10 Fat content of doughnuts reduced at 5% and 10% bran addition. Kim et al. (2012)
Doughnut had increased volume and darker colour with increase in bran content.

*Rheological indices of composite bread: dough consistency, mixing tolerance index, dough development time, stability and resistance to extension
at 62.5% water absorption.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015 © 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)

Koeksisters
Mandazi
Figure 2 Some cereal fried snacks with potential for WB enrichment. Source: https://www.google.co.za/search?q=wheat+bran+enriched+
food+products&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9vkZVPbLMfT7Aa57oHoDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1455&bih=695 Accessed
15 September 2014.
the wheat bran (Reyes-Perez et al., 2013). WB is
known to interfere with bubble growth in dough,
thereby reducing the loaf volume of the resultant
bread (Kim et al., 2013). It has been suggested that
the effect of WB fibre in dough is more than just dilu-
tion or interference with gluten network, but rather a
fibre–protein interaction (Anil, 2012). Medium-sized
bran particles (415 lm) may increase loaf volume,
while coarse WB significantly decreases loaf volume
(Pavlovich-Abril et al., 2015). Furthermore, functional-
ity of WB is affected by treatment processes. Thermal
treatment like extrusion cooking has been reported to
soften the bran, inactivate WB endogenous enzymes
and increase the extractability of bioactive compounds
such as sterols and ferulic acid. WB fermentation (Ai-
vaz & Mosharraf, 2013) and treatment with enzymes
such as a-amylase, xylanase and endoglucanase (Coda
et al., 2014) have been revealed to improve bread tex-
ture, and increase sensory properties of food products,
bread shelf life and mineral bioavailability.
Potential use of wheat bran in fried cereal snacks
Frying can be regarded as a dehydration and heat/
mass transfer process, in which new compounds are
© 2015 The Authors International Journal of Food Science & Technology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
on behalf of Institute of Food, Science and Technology (IFSTTF)
Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al. 2515
Vetkoek
Bofrot
Ponczki Puff puff
formed as a result of the chemical and physical
changes in the frying oil (Yazdanseta et al., 2015).
Deep frying is a process of submerging food product
in a sufficient amount of edible oil at high tempera-
tures (160–180 °C) which makes the resulting food
product delicious and gives it a contrasting texture
with crispy crust and tender core (Yazdanseta et al.,
2015). In frying cereal-based foods, there is an expan-
sion in volume characterised by pore formation as a
result of moisture evaporation from the food, which
results in transfer of oil into the food. Other changes
that occur during frying of cereal foods include starch
gelatinisation, protein denaturation, crust and colour
formation (Eissa et al., 2013). A number of factors
influence the oil content of fried foods, viz frying con-
ditions (temperature, time), oil quality (viscosity), food
characteristics (shape, size, porosity) and prefrying
treatments (Yazdanseta et al., 2015).
Measures taken to reduce oil uptake in a wide range
of fried foods include prefrying treatments such as air
drying, blanching in solutions, coating with edible films
and modified frying methods such as vacuum and air
frying (Yazdanseta et al., 2015). The use of hydrocol-
loids in formulations of fried cereal snacks and frying
batters has been known to reduce the moisture loss
International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015
2516 Wheat bran use in cereal food products O. O. Onipe et al.
during frying. Another oil-reduction mechanism is dry
particle coating. This hybridisation system uses bran of
cereals to coat flours. This system is aimed at preparing
composite flour by coating the larger material with the
finer particles through high impact force and friction
heat (Kim et al., 2012). Composites made from this
hybridisation system using WB and soya bean hulls
have been successfully used to produce fried doughnut
with reduced oil (Kim et al., 2012 and references
therein).
WB incorporation in fried cereal products has been
shown to reduce their oil content. WB can be compos-
ited with wheat flour by manual mixing or by hybridis-
ation system as explained earlier. Kim et al. (2012)
reported oil reduction of 2.7–9.4% in doughnuts pre-
pared from 6.87 lm WB. Yadav & Rajan (2012)
reported that WB had a negative effect on the mois-
ture content of Indian deep-fried dough, poori, because
of its water insolubility. A 20% oil content reduction
in poori at 3% WB incorporation, however, was
reported. There seems to be minimum work done on
the incorporation of WB aimed at oil/fat reduction in
fried cereal snacks, but the few published work high-
lighted here shows the potential WB holds for oil
reduction in fried cereal products. Because of the link
between diet and health, especially when it comes to
the issue of overweight/obesity, more work still needs
to be done to produce WB-fortified fried cereal snacks
with reduced fat, increased fibre and optimum sensory
attributes.
Conclusion
Production of whole-grain wheat flour requires far less
technological processing than separately isolating WB
from the grain during production of refined flour.
Also, consumption of whole-grain cereal-based foods
offers so much more than its refined counterparts in
terms of health benefit accruing from WB – which is
still produced in millions of tonnes a year despite its
current limited usage. Instead of leaving WB to go to
waste, it is currently being put to use in the food
industry because of its beneficial components. In sum-
mary, WB can be regarded as a functional ingredient
for production of healthier foods. Furthermore, WB
has been well utilised in baked cereal products, but
not so much in fried cereal snacks; hence, WB can be
utilised as an important source of dietary fibre and as
a cheap source of potential food additive for fat
reduction. Some human studies have been conducted
to ascertain WB health benefits, especially with baked
and breakfast cereals, but not in fried cereals. The lat-
ter can be further researched to encourage consump-
tion of healthy fried cereal foods. Finally, it has been
established that treatments like particle reduction, fer-
mentation, dephytinization and enzymatic treatment
International Journal of Food Science & Technology 2015
of WB increases its functionality. In view of this, there
is no reason why we cannot have various pretreated
WB on a commercial scale; such projects call for more
research.
Author Contribution
Oluwatoyin O. Onipe drafted the manuscript. Afam I.
O. Jideani conceived the idea and edited the manu-
script with Daniso Beswa. All authors read and
approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgment
The authors sincerely acknowledge the support
received from the University of Venda, South Africa,
through its research grant (SARDF/14/FST/03) and
work-study programme.
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