Cereals Flashcards
What are cereals?
Edible grasses which are grown and harvested for their grain.
What are the 5 most popular cereals in the UK?
Wheat, rice, maize, oats and barley.
Cereals are often referred to as staple foods. What does this mean?
Starchy foods that grow well and can be stored for consumption throughout the year.
What are the 3 components of a cereal grain?
The embryo, the germ and the bran.
What 6 nutrients are in a whole grain (when a cereal is left in its natural form)?
-Carbohydrates
-Protein
-Fats
-B vitamins
-E vitamins
-Fibre
What are 3 positive effects on the body from eating whole grains?
-Reduced risk of heart disease
-Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
-Controlled blood cholesterol
What is one of the main cereal crops grown in the UK?
Wheat.
What are 4 examples of what wheat is used for?
-Primarily flour
-Bread
-Biscuits
-Cake
How is wheat grown and processed?
-Before wheat is planted, the ground has to be prepared by ploughing
-Wheat is sown
-Wheat is harvested
What does ploughing involve, before sowing wheat?
It involves turning over the topsoil using a tractor and plough for the creation of a new seedbed.
What is a millstone?
2 stones used to obtain flour from wheat by grinding the grain.
What are the 6 key processes of wheat milling?
1) Sampling/grading the wheat
2) Cleaning the wheat
3) Conditioning the wheat
4) Gristing the wheat
5) Grinding the wheat
6) Processing the flour (streaming)
How is wheat sampled and graded in the first stage of processing?
Wheat is laboratory checked to the required standard and wheat of the same grain is stored together is silos.
Name 3 ways wheat is cleaned:
-Large sieves
-Suction machines
-Spinners
What process turns wheat to flour?
Grinding the wheat.
How are different grades of flour made?
Different grades of flour are produced by sifting, separating and regrinding the flour several times.
What is added to flour after the milling process?
Small amounts of bleaching agents, oxidizing agents and nutrients.
What is fortification?
It is legally required that the nutrients calcium, iron and the B vitamins (niacin and thiamin) are added to all white and brown flour.
What is added to regular flour to make it self-raising?
Baking powder.
What are the 6 different types of wheat flour?
-Wholemeal
-Brown
-White
-Granary
Stoneground
-Organic
How is wholemeal flour made?
From whole wheat grain, where nothing is added and nothing is taken away.
What is wholemeal flour referred to as having?
A 100% extraction rate.
What is wholemeal flour a good source of?
Dietary fibre, NSP (non starch polysaccharide).
How is brown flour made and what percentage of the original grain is left?
Some bran and germ have been removed, this usually contains about 85% of the original grain.
How is white flour made and what percentage of the original grain is left?
This usually contains around 70-72% pf the wheat grain (endosperm). Most of the bran and wheat germ have been removed during the milling process.
How is granary flour made?
It’s made by adding malted wheat (which has been toasted and flaked) but usually is added to wholemeal or brown flour.
How is stoneground flour made?
This is wholemeal flour ground in a traditional way between 2 stones.
How is organic flour made?
This is made from grain that has been grown to organic standards.
What is the nutritional value of wheat?
-Starchy carbohydrates, found in the endosperm
-Protein
-Vitamins
-If the wheat still has the brain it will have dietary fibre
-B vitamins are found in the bran layers
-Flour sold in the UK is fortified by calcium, iron and B vitamins
What effect does wholemeal flour have on calcium and iron absorption?
Wheat stores the mineral phosphorus in the form of phytic acid. This phytic acid is present in the bran of wheat. The phytic acid will bind to both calcium and iron to form phytates and this then limits the absorption of these minerals in the body.
What kind of people should avoid food containing phytates?
People with health issues relating to iron deficiency anaemia and osteoporosis. Otherwise, it is not necessary to stop eating them.
What health benefits are there of phytates?
Research has shown that phytic acid can help to reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer and prevent hardening of the arteries.
When is strong flour used? (high protein content)
Uses for bread making. It can also be used for puff, flaky and choux pastry. It produces a strong, elastic dough because it is high in protein.
When is all-purpose flour used?
When a light, short crumbly texture is desired. There is a lower protein content.
What is gluten-free flour?
Flour that is free from wheat, barley, oats and rye and is usually a blend of gluten-free flours such as rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat flours.
Why is oat flour included in the list of gluten-containing grains even though they don’t contain gluten, only a similar protein called avenin which most coeliacs can tolerate?
They are commonly cross-contaminated in the manufacturing process.
What are 5 other ways are there to primarily process wheat so it can be used in cooking?
-Wheat bran: added to biscuits or cakes etc to increase the dietary fibre content
-Puffed wheat: used to manufacture breakfast cereals and cereal snack bars
-Kibbled wheat: used as an ingredient in mixed grain bread
-Semolina: mainly used for making pasta, the preferred variety
-Couscous: made from semolina grains
What are 7 examples of food products that wheat is secondarily processed into?
-Pizza
-Cake
-Waffles
-Sauces
-Muffins
-Crackers
-Pancakes
What 2 proteins does flour contain?
Gliadin and glutenin.
How is gluten formed?
When moisture such as water is added to wheat flour.
What 3 processes happen as an effect on heat on bread dough?
-Coagulation
-Gelatinisation
-Dextrinisation
What coagulates in bread when heated?
The protein present in the flour.
What is gelatinisation in bread making?
When starch is mixed with water, it forms a suspension, and with heat, the starch granules absorb moisture and swell. A matrix is formed and this results in a thickening of the liquid. This results in a gel.
What will affect gelatinisation in bread making?
The presence of sugar and acidic ingredients like lemon juice.
What is dextrinisation in bread making?
When starch is exposed to dry heat the colour will change to brown. Dextrin causes the characteristic brown crust on baked products and toast.
What process happens as an effect of freezing on products thickened by wheat flour?
Retrogradation.