Putting a Value on Wheat Quality

“It comes down to customer needs and desires,” says ConAgra Food Ingredients technical lab manager

By Tracy Sayler

Flour consistency and process efficiency are two top objectives coveted by end users of wheat, says Kurt Becker, Omaha, Neb., who manages the central laboratory providing services for 25 flour mills across the U.S. that are part of the Grain Processing Group of ConAgra Food Ingredients Company.

“There are a lot of different ways to look at wheat quality, and it comes down to customer needs and desires. At times, extremely high protein wheat won’t work in some processes,” Becker says. “Generally, however, flour users want flour consistency, functionality and performance. They also want process efficiency: Ingredients that will result in the best product yield with the least amount of downtime and cost.”

Becker evaluates the quality of wheat at ConAgra delivery points, and how that wheat is handled. Key wheat grading characteristics include test weight, dockage, shrunken and broken kernels, moisture, protein, insect-damaged kernels, and sprout damage. ConAgra is keenly interested in wheat varieties that demonstrate good quality under variable weather conditions. “About two thirds of quality factors are driven by environmental factors,” he says. (The chart, “Importance of Environment on Wheat and Flour Functionality,” illustrates the importance of environment.)

Importance of Environment on Wheat and Flour Functionality

Deoxynivalenol (DON), the contaminative byproduct of Fusarium head blight (FHB), can make wheat unsuitable for milling and use for food and feed, so ConAgra analyzes and monitors DON levels.

The FDA’s DON advisory level is one part per million for flour. “It’s our responsibility to make sure all the wheat we mill complies with all FDA rules and regulations and internal policies, and ours does,” says Becker.

Typically, after the wheat kernel is milled into flour, DON levels in the flour are approximately 50% less than what they were in the wheat. Thus, if a load of wheat has a DON level of two parts per million, it will be about one ppm in the milled flour.

While DON concentrations in processed grain products are subject to strict controls, the presence of DON in flour can indicate serious protein functional defects that can affect the internal cell structure of bread, and have a definite impact on baking results (see photo below, “Typical Effects of DON on Bread Quality”).

Experimentally Milled Flour Flour DON Level 0.0 ppmM Experimentally Milled Flour Flour DON Level 1.0 ppm Experimentally Milled Flour Flour DON Level 2.3 ppm This photo shows the typical effects of DON in flour on bread quality. FDA’s DON advisory level is one part per million for milled flour. These breads have been baked under laboratory conditions from flours produced by experimentally milled hard red spring wheats for demonstration purposes only. The third sample (2.3 ppm DON) would be rejected based on government DON guidelines and functionality.

These experimentally milled samples of wheat flour, each with different levels of DON, were baked under laboratory conditions to demonstrate the impact of DON in flour on bread quality. The slice at left was baked with flour containing no DON. The loaf in the middle was baked with flour with a DON level of 1 ppm. Signs of weakness in the cell structure of the bread loaf are becoming evident. Flour with a DON level of 2.3 ppm was used to bake the loaf at right. “It’s important to note the loaf’s poor performance,” says Becker. “It has low volume and a flat, wrinkled top, which will result in loaf collapse, and has a coarse, open texture that is more like corn bread than common pan bread.”

Becker spoke at a recent AgriPro Wheat meeting in Fargo. In response to a question, Becker said ConAgra Food Ingredients’ policy on genetically modified wheat—when GMO wheat becomes available—will be customer driven, just like other wheat attributes. He said there’s concern over the acceptance of biotech wheat in foreign and domestic markets, so more research must be conducted on customer acceptance (foreign and domestic) prior to release of biotech wheat. Also, the grain handling infrastructure will need to be adapted for biotech wheat segregation.

High Plains Program Pays Premium for IP Wheat
Responding to another question, Becker says the Platte Value Program demonstrates that ConAgra’s Grain Processing Group is willing to pay a premium to obtain identity-preserved wheat that fits its needs.

ConAgra partners with AgriPro Wheat in the joint venture, which focuses on the production and delivery of Platte, an AgriPro hard white wheat variety grown in the High Plains of Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. A grain pricing schedule, backed by a ConAgra contract, offers a basic premium over local hard red wheat markets, plus protein premiums which are commonly attainable under proper management. Thus, a producer knows his premium potential prior to planting the wheat, and he also understands the crop’s overall return potential if targets are achieved.

Becker says Platte has special baking functional quality that meets bakers needs in specific uses, and that this is a major reason to require certified seed each year.

Rob Bruns, AgriPro Wheat’s general manager, says his company is making efforts to establish a similar premium program in the Northern Plains. “We’re looking at different varieties and different companies. It’s a challenge to find a variety-focused premium program that is worthwhile to those involved, from our company, to the producer, the processor, and the end user,” he says. “We have some ideas, but haven’t found that combination of factors that would make something like the Platte Program work up here yet.”