Flour quality control is not an easy task. Many parameters have an influence, starting from the protein (quantity, quality …), the starch (damaged or not…), the enzymes (amylases, proteases…) and many other components.

1. Digital Re-print - November | December 2010
‘Profiling’ flours and their value to end users
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2. Flour Feature Feature Flour
as a function of time, mixing development play with mixing
and temperature. speed (from 55 to
This allows for: 250rpm), modify
• The analysis of the quality of the the target torque,
protein network: hydration, stabil- etc. This in order
ity, elasticity, mixing power to be the closest of
• The analysis of starch behav- industrial use condi-
iour: gelatinisation and gelation tions of his flour.
temperatures, modification of The Mixolab is
consistency by additives, etc very simple to use.
• The analysis of enzymatic activity: The analysis is com-
proteolitic, amylasic and other pletely automated.
Figure 2
In order to be assured of getting a good The only steps are
analysis of temperature influence on the to weigh the flour,
dough, a sensor is located at the dough/ put it in the dough mixer and position the necessary amount of water for hydration and
‘PROFILING’ FLOURS
mixer interface (dough temperature): this water injector. The device is completely injects it.
complements the information given by a driven from a PC thanks to user-friendly A conrtol menu allows the adjustment
second temperature sensor situated near the software working on Windows 98, 2000, NT, and monitoring of all the Mixolab features
heating element (mixer temperature). XP, Vista, 7. It is
Dough development: Starting at constant possible to get all
AND THEIR VALUE TO END USERS temperature, the beginning of the test checks
the water absorption level of flours and
measures the characteristics of dough during
the results under
Excel sheets.
The Mixolab
mixing: stability, elasticity, water absorption design has been
by Charles Loubersac D’hotel, Chopin Technologies SAS, France Protein breakdown: As the dough tempera- optimised in
ture increases, the consistency decreases. order to guaranty
F
lour quality control is not an the dough), but also concerning the starch additives manufacturers, breeders, universi- This part of the curve shows that the weak- to the end-user
easy task. Many parameters (gelatinisation temperature, retrogradation, ties, industrial bakeries and millers, the ening depends on protein/gluten quality maximum safety.
have an influence, starting from diastasic activity …) and some enzymatic company has improved the software facility Starch gelatinisation: When a certain tem- Before each test,
the protein (quantity, quality …), activities (proteases on the first part of the of the device. perature is reached, starch gelatinization the Mixolab checks
the starch (damaged or not…), the test, amylases on the second). The repeatability and reproducibility of begins. Additives can influence this gelati- that all test condi-
enzymes (amylases, proteases…) This tool is interesting for the all grain- the Mixolab allows users to manage the nization temperature and/or the maximum tions are respected.
and many other components. flour-bread chain thanks to its 50g mixing three-part software (all included) package consistency of gelatinized flour Once all set values
bowl. It also gives interesting and fast results with the device called Mixolab System. Measure of amylase activity: The consist- are reached, the
Chopin Technologies has been working from whole meal flour (obtain by grinding It is composed of the Mixolab Standard ency value at the end of heating depends on system takes the +1 515-254-1260 • Email: ascott@insta-pro.com • www.insta-pro.com
on the quality control of cereals and flours the wheat). (ICC173), comprehensive tool for the R&D the naturally occurring and/or added amylase
for more than 80 years, providing solutions Pure gluten or pure starch has also been where the curve interpretation remains activity
for cereal chemistry with the help of interna- successfully tested. free, but requires cereal chemistry-skilled Cooling the dough down,
tional association such as AACC, ICC. users; the Mixolab Simulator, that simulates beginning of starch gelling:
You may be familiar with the Chopin Successful testing the Farinograph® values and the Mixolab When cooling, starch retro-
Technologies’ Alveo-consistograph, SDmatic After a six years successful life and a Profiler which is the perfect tool for daily QC grades and the product con-
for damaged starch determination, labora- wide acceptance over customers such as purposes for it helps the millers and bakers sistency increases. Some addi-
tory mills for flour (CD1 & CD1 Auto), the scoring their flours on six very comprehen- tives have an effect on this
new NIR Infraneo and much more. sive indexes. phenomenon and can modify
The company launched recently the revo- its behaviour. These additives
lutionary ‘Profiler’, based on the Mixolab sys- Fundamental rheology: ‘The can help avoid early staling, and
tem, that both creates a new scoring system cereal chemistry minded tool’ increase the softness of the end
and inverse the QC as it currently exists by The Mixolab senses, in real time, the product, and their effect can be
scoring the raw material in function of prod- torque in Nm produced by the dough measured
uct end value and the processing consistency between the two mixing blades. All informa- The Mixolab is very flexible
rather than the raw material alone. tion is transmitted to the computer for data and can adapt itself to every
Mixolab measures the consistency of the treatment and visualisation. single problematics.
dough during mixing and submitted to a The Mixolab can work either at constant The user can choose
gradual increase and decrease of the mixer hydration or at constant consistency. between the Chopin protocol
temperature. For constant consistency, the Chopin proposed as a standard method
With just one single test, the operator standard target is 1.1Nm: it is adaptable to or can create its own test. In
has information concerning the protein and other targets as needed. Once the dough is this last case, he will be able to
gluten quality (water absorption, dough sta- Figure 1: The Profiler software facility formed, the device measures its behaviour set different temperature cycles,
bility during mixing, mixing time, strength of
18 | november - december 2010 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy Grain &feed millinG technoloGy november - december 2010 | 19

3. Flour Feature
“The revolutionary Profiler creates a new scoring system
and inverses the QC as it exists actually. It scores the
raw material in its function at the end product and the
process itself rather than just the raw material”
and particularly calibration of the different However, in the end, few tools are avail- index, an amylases index and a retrograda-
sensors: temperature, torque, etc. able that help them to assess not just the qual- tion index.
The Mixolab is particularly adapted for ity but the functionality of their flours as well. Flour tested shall be identified such as, for
a wide range of applications in Research example, 352-345. This Index, thanks to the
laboratories. Trouble shooting with the reproducibility and the repeatability of the
Profiler device, becomes the flour fingerprint.
Functional rheology Then there is the Profiler on the Mixolab.
Functional rheology is the ultimate tool The quality parameters mentioned above Designing your own profiles
for Industrial baker. are most of the time focusing on gluten, Based on that, the bakers will be able to
The cereal chemistry-minded tool trans- few are considering the starch fraction. Most design their own profiles for each of their
lates into a daily use, routine and functional the trouble shooting is coming from starch end products with tolerances values on the
control all the flours tested. This is typically ‘miscontrol’. For example, if you just consider Chopin Index.
the kind of requirement industrial bakers, the water absorption you can obtain using They need, like a calibration, to process
having various suppliers, are asking for. This common rheological methods, they don’t on the Mixolab 12 to 20 samples of well
what Chopin technology achieved with its translate precisely into what is the actual performing flours for a dedicated end prod-
software facility on the Mixolab. Millers, sup- water absorption in an industrial mixer. uct. That includes the process used for that
pliers of bakeries, are giving quality param- Again, Mixolab is measuring the consist- end product. They will design, like this, the
eters, such as protein, ash, starch damage, ency on a dough, a real dough, not a slurry Profiler they need.
sedimentation, Hagberg, water absorption or batter, where interaction between gluten From that preliminary work you shall be
(from the Farinograph) or even Alveograph and starch are critical with a limited amount able to ensure 100 percent consistency in
values such as W&P/L, that most of the time of water available, where the quality of the your production line. As soon as you have
complies with bakers requirements. gluten can influence the starch behaviour the profile, you can make it easy, whatever
Still, some trouble shooting is possible. during the warming phase. the skills of the user: you know if the flour is
In a world where customers requirements This is actually a very good way to mimic “in” the Profile or “out”. If in, no worries, if
are moving fast, new products developments the actual process. out, the profiler shows where the problem
are a critical competitive point for industrial And this is the reason why the Mixolab is comes from, on which index and how it can
bakers who are following new trends such so valuable for bakers, as there is no other be fixed with your supplier.
as gluten-free, high-fiber, digestibility, whole such device that is close to their processes. Indeed, that provides the bakers, in one
grain, enriched flours etc. The standard curve from the Mixolab single test, a better understanding, avoid
requires a pretty good knowledge of dough trouble shootings from arising and allow
rheology; the baker needs fast and simple communications with suppliers to be accu-
method in one test. rate and precise.
Figure 3: The The aim of the The revolutionary Profiler creates a new
Mixolab device Profiler is to trans- scoring system and inverses the QC as it exists
late this raw curve actually. It scores the raw material in its function
into a comprehen- at the end product and the process itself rather
sive and under- than just the raw material.
standable test.
Six indexes are
ranked from 0 to More inforMation:
9 (see Figure 2), an Chopin Technologies
absorption index, a 20 avenue Marcelin Berthelot
mixing index, a gluten Villeneuve-la-Garenne
quality index, a viscosity Cedex, 92396 France
Website: www.chopin.fr
20 | november - december 2010 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy

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