CEREAL MILLING

Introduction
• The objective of milling- increase palatability
of cereals and reduce particle size of grain.
• Milling involves removal of bran i.e pericarp,
seed coat & aleurone layer.
• Germ- removed to decrease chance of
rancidity due to oil.
• Bran and germ-rich in protein, B vitamins,
minerals and fat.
• Milling –increases palatability, but nutritional
value decreases.
• Dry milling attempt to remove anatomical
parts as cleanly as possible.
 Dry milling
• Cleaning
• Dirty grain, infested or spoiled grain should
not be used for milling.
• Involves use of a magnetic separator to
remove metal pieces.
• Step removes foreign substances and protect
machines from damage and reduce accidents.
• Machine removes chaff and pieces of straw by
aspiration.
• Grain –fed in to sieve larger than desired
grain.
 Tempering/Conditioning
• Tempering- adding water to dry grain and
allow time for grain to absorb water before
milling.
• Tempering softens endosperm and makes it
easier to grind.
• Amount of water added to wheat dependent
on moisture content and hardness of the
grain.
• Soft wheat tempered at 15-15.5% moisture.
• Hard wheat tempered at 16.5% moisture.
• Time taken for water to penetrate the grain
also varies with grain hardness.
• Rate of water uptake varies for different
cultivars.
• Outer layers of endosperm appear to be
controlling rate of water uptake.
• Compact endosperm-have slow water uptake.
• Time required for equilibration in grain varies
from 6hr for soft opaque kernel to over 24hr
for a hard vitreous kernel.
• The effect of water on the endosperm is to
make it softer and easier to mill.
• Hard, vitreous wheat becomes soft and
opaque due to wetting and increase of
temperature.
 Roller milling
• Grinding of most cereal grains – done with a
roller meal.
• Roller mill –allows gradual reduction in size of
grain particles.
• Grinding achieved – by use of a pair of rollers
rotating in opposite directions.
 Wet Milling
• Wet milling separates wheat components into
starch, protein, oil and fibre instead of bran,
germ and endosperm as incase of dry milling.
• After cleaning of seeds as in dry milling corn is
steeped
• Steeping submerges corn in water with 0.1-
0.2% SO2.
• Temperature raised and maintained at 48-52
degrees Celcius for 30-50hr.
• Steeping system uses 10 tanks
• There is counter current flow of corn and
water.
• Sulphur dioxide stops growth of putrifactive
microbes.
• HSO3- reacts with –s-s- bonds in proteins and
reduces MW of proteins making them more
soluble.
• Release of starch from protein matrix will be
easier leading to a higher yield of starch.
• After steeping, water contains 6% soluble
solids.
• Dried solids contain 35% protein N, 26% lactic
acid, 18% ash and 7% phytic acid.
 Factors that influence extraction rate
during wet milling
• The primary objective of wet milling is to
separate and extract grain biopolymers.
• The medium of water allows much more fine
milling of grain as heat generation through
friction is significantly reduced.
• Starch granules –freed from their protein
matrix by water.
• Water enables a better suspension of
individual particles than air, facilitating their
separation on the basis of density.
• Steeping hydrates and softens the grain prior
to milling.
• Steeping – enables clean separation of germ
from endosperm and weakens the starch-
protein bond to allow their separation.
• SO2- level influences extraction efficiency.
• Lactic acid’s protein softening effect
influences extraction rate.
• Density of grain components influence the
rate of extraction.
• Enzymes e.g beta-glucanase- found to
increase efficiency of wet milling.
• Extraction rate of proteins is improved by
reducing particle size of maize flour.
• Extraction rate may be high if design and
energy of attrition mills are adequate.
• Use of centrifuge in protein-starch separation
may also affect extraction rate.
• Choice of solvent for oil extraction may
influence extraction rate.
• Temperature –must be chosen to offer the
best balance of solubility as it influence
extraction rate.