Milling process of cereal grains and quality of flours

Recently, the great attention to high fibre diet increases the importance of a proper selection of raw materials to be used for producing cereal-based products. In this context, wheat bran turns out to be an interesting ingredient, due to its high fibre contents. Wheat bran can exert many physiological benefits, representing also a good substrate for useful lactic bacteria. The modern milling process based on the use of rollers is a rapid system that allows a gradual reduction of the endosperm to desired particle sizes, but bran and germ are separated. On the contrary, the most ancient milling process uses two stones to grind wheat kernels producing flour rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres and antioxidants. The modern roller milling process replaced the stone mill because is able to work larger amounts of seeds, but the resulting flours are deprived of nutritional compounds, compromised by the high temperature generally reached with the rollers. Technological options have to be adopted when whole wheat or bran enriched flours are used to produce cereal-based products because bran and germ particles generally produce a less homogeneous mixture which can physically interfere with a proper structure development. In the current work an overview of stone mills available at national levels will be presented. A mass balance of raw materials used during milling with stones, compared to process with modern rollers will be also provided. The process variables to be used during food production with enriched flours are also discussed.