Atta Flour

Atta (Indian Bread flour) Characteristics

Atta is an Indian whole-grain wheat flour to make flat breads (Roti). Wheat use are: Durum and
Aestivum
There are various types of Atta available in Indian stores in United States
1. Durum Atta, milled from Durum Wheat.
2. Brown Atta, milled from Hard Red Wheat
3. Safed Atta, milled from Hard White Wheat
4. Chapati Atta, milled from a combination of Hard Red and Hard White wheat
5. Chakki Atta, milled by hand operated stone mill, or small electric stone mills
Wheat Milling Flour classes Varieties
Wheat has been used in India for over 5,000 years. The wheat has gone through major evolution. First
major change occurred during 1960s (The Green Revolution What was the Green Revolution?)
when existing species was changed to high yield 'Sharbat Sonora" dwarf species. Today there are two
basic varieties of wheat produced in India to make Atta: Durum (Triticum durum Desf.) and Aestivum
(Triticum Aestivum L). Aestivum is a semi hard wheat compared to hard Durum. For discussion, I will
refer to Aestivum as Gehun. In India, about 90% of wheat used is Gehun. In United States, Durum is
also called Semolina.
Characteristics of Atta
1. Atta is made of hard wheat. The hardness attributes to the strength or toughness that allows us to
make thin Roti. Even for US breads, you need toughness to maintain shape of the bread,
2. Atta is a whole-grain flour made of the complete wheat berry (bran/fiber, endosperm/starch, and
germ/protein) making Atta to be highly nutritional. Whole-grain flour is also known as Wholemeal flour.
3. Gluten makes the dough elastic (Loach). Higher level of Gluten is needed for yeast fermentation.
Roti uses no yeast. Therefore, Atta does not use high gluten wheat, the gluten must be just sufficient
to make dough. In general, soft wheat have low gluten compared to hard wheat. Gehun is hard wheat,
Durum is harder. Both have sufficient gluten.
4. Atta needs high 'starch damage'. Higher the starch-damage, higher is the water absorption. To
make dough for Roti, the starch damage should be about 15%. Stone grinding provides good
acceptable levels of starch damage.
In the olden days Chakki (Hand operated stone-mill) was used to mill the wheat. Stone milling also
generates high temperatures (225 F to 275 F) giving Atta an aroma of a lightly dry roast
5. The minerals in the wheat attribute to Ash level. When the Roti is made, The color of baked bread
depends on the ash level. Higher the ash level, richer is the color of the bread. Wholegrain Atta has
the highest level of Ash. Ash level in excess of 1.25% is considered good.
6. In the olden days color of the wheat berry was used as an indicative of the hardness. The color of
Gehun varies from dull creamy white to reddish brown. Softer the grain, lighter the color, harder the
grain more reddish brown the color. Durum is slightly yellow because of higher amount of betacarotene.
The red or white grains can both be hard or soft. Durum is always the hardest wheat berry.
7. Atta is un-bleached, un-bromated. and un-enriched.

Atta flour, made from various wheat blends, is the most important basic food in India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh besides rice. Atta flour is the basic product for making well-known flat breads such as
chapati, roti and puri. Every year, about 100 million tonnes of wheat are processed into Atta flour

throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. And the demand for industrially ground, high-quality Atta
flour is growing, especially in India.
One of the reasons behind this is progressing urbanization, and another is increased consumer
demand for quality and sanitation. City inhabitants no longer bring their grain to the local Atta mill for
grinding, as it is common in the countryside. Consumers want to buy their Atta flour at supermarkets
and to be able to select from various types and brands of Atta flour.
Traditional production
Processing wheat into Atta flour in India has almost exclusively taken place in commercial operations
using traditional mill stones, so called Chakki mills, up until now. A Chakki mill can only handle 300
kilos of wheat per hour and is usually exclusively geared to producing one kind of Atta flour. In
addition, the core of the Chakki mill is its grinding stone, which no longer meets todays requirements
for food safety and production consistency.
Fulfilling the growing demand for first-class quality and a larger assortment is a big challenge for
Indian mill operators with their conventional production plants. So far, they have been lacking the
appropriate process as well as the necessary machinery for industrially producing Atta flour.
Innovative process technology
A new type of industrial process for producing high-quality and sanitary Atta flour has been developed.
The secret of the new Atta flour process is using steel rolls instead of a grinding stone. A special, so
called high-pressure mill is used in the new Atta process to achieve the particular characteristics of the
Atta flour. To make this possible, Bhler developers have designed a new grinding machine: The
PesaMill. Easy to clean and with a less intensive maintenance effort than a Chakki mill, the PesaMill
processes up to 150 tonnes of wheat per day to produce consistent, high-quality Atta flours.
PesaMill replaces 20 Chakki mills
The compact design of the PesaMill enables the installation on a small footprint while replacing up to
20 Chakki mills with its high throughput capacity. The new Bhler Atta process guarantees high food
safety and less maintenance effort. The re-dressing of the milling stones is no longer required. The
innovative grinding system allows Atta flour producers to easily adjust their products to individual
product characteristics. The PesaMill can produce flour according to specific values for water
absorption, starch damage and granulation in order to meet regional market preferences.
In addition to the production advantages, the PesaMill was designed with sanitation, energy
consumption (up to 10% less energy consumption compared to Chakki mills) and reliable and
consistent production in mind. Plus, with the new Atta process, yield can be increased by 1.5%.

Extensive testing
The new Atta flour process technology was extensively tested in order to guarantee that the taste of
the flour and its texture are the same as for flours produced with traditional methods. This was the
biggest challenge because, up until now, attempts mostly failed on the requirement for the flour to
have the typical taste of Atta flour.
The new process developed started at the Bhler Grain Technology Center in Uzwil, Switzerland. The
further development into market readiness was completed at the Bhler Bangalore application center
in India. The development of the pilot plant was supported by local Atta milling experts. An
independent and official Indian testing office was established with the Central Food Technological
Research Institute (CFTRI) to analyze and test the flour produced by the new technology. These blind
tests showed a high level of conformity in regards to taste and texture with the flour produced on
Chakki mills.
Successful market introduction
After the first tests with selected Atta millers, the first plant began operating at a capacity of 130 tonnes
per day in 2013. Since then, it has been working and has achieved significant increase in productivity
as well as cost savings in an increasingly competitive market. The company owner said he is satisfied
with the results and so are his customers.
Chakki Atta flour has been eaten in India since ancient times. For centuries, until the introduction of
this new method, there was no innovation. The new product is well received, he said.
He added that the conventional Chakki mill stones will be discontinued in the next 15 years. More new
Bhler plants are already in the planning stages for development and will soon be ready for installation
and handover to customers.
Nicholas Trounce is head of product management, grain milling, at Bhler AG. He can be reached
at [email protected].

Atta flour is typically used in the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia and is the
flour of choice for making food products such as chapati, naan, parota, roli, and roti breads. A specific
flour is required to make such breads because the flour must have high a percentage of starch
damage and a fine granulation so that the dough absorbs more water and the dough formed from the
flour is sticky. Also, when the atta flour is formed into a bread it is desired for the bread to have a
particular color, with the color resultant primarily from the amount of ash found in the flour. Thus, the
atta flour has specific characteristics that are required for producing an atta flour that is commercially

viable and suitable for making the before mentioned breads, namely, high starch damage and an
amount of ash greater than 1%.
Traditionally, atta flour is made in small villages throughout the countries mentioned above, with the
wheat used to form the flour ground by hand in a stone mill. Grinding the wheat in a stone mill
produces a flour that has high levels of starch damage, and a desirable color and granulation. Starch
damage results from the attrition of the starch granules in the stone mill. The harsh physical treatment
by stone milling causes the starch granules to rupture, crack, and cut, as well as, other types of
damage to the starch granules. The portion of the starch granule primarily damaged is the large
lenticular granules, the starch granule also includes the small spherical granules but these are not
typically damaged. It is further known that the proportion and percentage of starch damage increases
with the severity of grinding. While, stone milling produces sufficient starch damage, most stone milling
methods unfortunately are done by hand and are inefficient. Mechanically driven stone mills can be
developed, but few large stone mills which are mechanically driven produce an atta flour with
characteristics similar to an atta flour produced by a hand stone mill. Further, most mechanical stone
mills have a small capacity, this means the stone mills are inefficient. Because hand stone mills are
inefficient and most commercial stone mills generally do not produce an acceptable atta flour and are
inefficient, it is desired to find a method for producing the atta flour on a commercial scale. The atta
flour has tremendous commercial potential because the atta flour is consumed by a large portion of
the world's population. In particular, increased industrialization and urbanization of India has increased
the demand for convenience food and high volume production of atta flour. It is important to find a
process where a large scale method can be used to produce atta flour with high starch damage. It is
further desired to be able to produce the atta flour on a commercial basis, as opposed to producing the
atta flour by hand methods or small capacity stone mills.
Most known previous methods developed for producing an atta flour on a commercial scale have
proven unsuccessful. Some of the known atta flours produced according to other commercial
processes have suffered from insufficient starch damage in the flour and/or an inadequate color. It is
desired to have a commercial process for producing an atta flour that does not involve a stone grinder
to mill the wheat.
Furthermore, most known commercial flours, in particular non-atta flours, do not have a level of starch
damage equal to about 15%, in fact most commercial whole wheat flours have an amount of starch
damage equal to about 9% or less. As such, most known flours produced by a roller mill or similar
device do not have characteristics similar to the atta flour. It is preferred to not have high starch
damage in whole wheat flours as this will make the dough formed from the flour too sticky, and the
bread crumb dough will be gummy.
It is desired to have an efficient industrial process for producing an atta flour having sufficient starch
damage, so that breads indigenous to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia can be readily
produced from commercially available flour. Such a process would preferably eliminate the need for
traditional hand formation methods, such as stone milling, as well as, commercial processes involving
stone milling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for producing an atta flour, wherein said method includes
passing an amount of wheat through a device designed to crack the wheat, preferably a corrugated
roll, and then passing the cracked wheat through at least two smooth rolls, with the corrugated roll and
smooth roll comprised of two separate cylindrical individual rolls. The separate cylindrical individual
rolls preferably rotate at different speeds to create a speed differential. The smooth roll is a device
comprised of two separate cylindrical rolls each having a smooth surface, the two cylindrical rolls are
placed in close proximity to one another so that when the cracked wheat passes through the space
between the two rolls, the wheat is ground to a smaller particle size to form flour. Not only does the
smooth roll reduce the particle size of the wheat, but it causes enough shear to the flour to increase
starch damage. After passage through at least two smooth rolls an atta flour will be produced which
has between about 13% and about 17% starch damage and which preferably has an amount of ash
equal to between about 1% and about 2% by weight of the flour. More preferably, the atta flour will
have starch damage equal to about 15%. The atta flour is ideally suited for forming Asian breads such
as roti and chapati.
In the most preferred method an amount of wheat, similar to Asian wheat, which is considered semihard or soft, is passed through a corrugated roll, with such corrugated roll designed to crack the wheat
to form an amount of cracked wheat. Instead of a corrugated roll, a hammer or disc mill can be used to
grind the wheat. The cracked wheat is then passed through a smooth roll which will grind the wheat to
reduce the particle size and shear the wheat to cause starch damage and produce an atta flour. After
passage through the two smooth rolls, preferably the atta flour is passed through a smooth roll one
more time for further grinding and shearing. Also, as mentioned, both the corrugated and the smooth
roll or rolls will each be comprised of two individual cylindrical rolls which will rotate at speeds ranging
between about 200 rpms and about 600 rpms. Most importantly, there will preferably be a speed
differential between the individual rolls ranging between about 2:1 and about 3:1. Preferably, after
production of the atta flour an amount of fines from ground bran are added to the flour to raise the ash
content in the flour.
It is important to note that the present method uses a commercial roller mill, which is a smooth roll, as
opposed to a stone mill to produce the atta flour. The use of the smooth roll is presently economically
efficient and produces an atta flour having sufficient starch damage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing how the atta flour is preferably produced from an amount of wheat.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for producing an atta flour which is suitable in making
chapati, naan, parota, roli, and roti breads. Such breads are typically consumed in the countries of
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Importantly, the method produces an atta flour which has
a high level of starch damage, which is required in forming such breads, and a desirable amount of
ash. The amount of ash in the atta flour influences the color of the bread made from the atta flour and

is important to the present invention. It is necessary for the atta flour to have a particular golden color
in order for the atta flour, and particularly the bread made from the flour, to be visually appealing to a
typical consumer. Specifically, the atta flour has a level of starch damage preferably equal to about
15% and an amount of ash preferably equal to about 1% by weight of the atta flour. If the atta flour
does not have an amount of starch damage equal to approximately 15% then it is found that suitable
breads mentioned above most likely cannot be formed. In particular, such breads will be hard and
unacceptable to consumers.
The method for forming the atta flour involves first selecting an amount of wheat. Generally, any class
of wheat can be selected to form the atta flour; however, it is most preferred to select a hard wheat or
semi-hard wheat. Hardness relates to how strongly gluten and starch found in the wheat are held
together, with the hardness being variety specific and the result of growing conditions. More
specifically, hardness relates to the strength of the bond between protein and starch in the wheat.
Hard wheat is preferred because the harder the endosperm texture the more starch damage can be
produced. Durum wheat is generally the hardest wheat and produces starch damage equal to 10 to
11%, while soft wheat produces an amount of starch damage equal to 3 to 5%. This percentage of
starch damage is achieved under normal milling conditions. Durum wheat appears to be the most
preferred wheat class used in the present method, as Durum wheat has a hardness equal to about
120, which is a number determined by using a near infrared analyzer. Other wheat classes suitable for
use include hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, and soft white wheat. Generally, any class
of wheat can be used to form the atta flour of the present method.
The present method is part of a continuous process so that the amount of wheat selected does not
matter. Once the particular class of wheat has been selected, an amount of the wheat is cracked.
Preferably, the wheat is cracked by passing it through a corrugated roll comprised of a pair of side-byside cylindrical corrugated rolls designed to break or crack the wheat. In other words, the cylindrical
corrugated rolls in the corrugated roll will crack the kernel of the wheat. While the corrugated roll is
preferred, any device can be used which cracks the wheat kernel; other such devices include a
hammer mill and a disc mill. The two cylindrical corrugated rolls which form the corrugated roll will
rotate at a speed ranging between about 200 revolutions per minute (rpms) and 600 rpms. Preferably,
one of the cylindrical corrugated rolls will rotate at a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about
250 rpms, with the other cylindrical corrugated roll rotating at a speed ranging between about 500
rpms and about 600 rpms. Regardless of the speed, it is preferred if there is a speed differential
between the cylindrical corrugated rolls equal to between about 2:1 and about 3:1. Also, the cylindrical
corrugated rolls will preferably have the closest available gap setting available so that the two rolls are
nearly touching. The gap setting is generally 0.075 millimeters (mm) or smaller. Passage through the
corrugated roll will form an amount of cracked wheat which is suitable for grinding and forming an
amount of the atta flour.
The cracked wheat will then be passed through a smooth roll at least twice. Exposure to the smooth
roll is designed to reduce the particle size of the cracked wheat and form an atta flour. Also, the
smooth roll should produce enough shear to the wheat so that sufficient starch damage is achieved in
the atta flour. Sufficient particle size reduction and shearing of the flour will be dependent in part upon
the speed differential in the smooth roll, the speed of the smooth roll, the roll pressure, and the feed

rate of the cracked wheat into the roll. The smooth roll is comprised of two separate cylindrical rolls
which will have the smallest possible gap setting so that the separate cylindrical rolls are practically
touching. Such a gap setting will be equal to about 0.01 mm or smaller. Importantly, the two separate
rolls will preferably rotate at different speeds so that a speed differential ranging between about 2:1
and about 3:1 will exist. To achieve the differential, the two separate rolls will rotate at speeds ranging
between about 200 rpms and about 600 rpms. More preferably, one of the separate rolls will rotate at
a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about 250 rpms and the other separate roll will rotate at
a speed ranging between about 500 rpms and about 600 rpms. Importantly, it has been determined
that the faster the speed of each roll the greater the starch damage. The separate roll speed
differential is crucial to ensure that sufficient shear of the wheat occurs. Without shearing of the wheat
sufficient starch damage will not result. The increased speed differential increases the shear on the
wheat which in turn increases the starch damage. Shear is also related to the feed rate through the
smooth roll, as a decreased feed rate results in an increased shear of the wheat.
While the wheat can be passed through only two smooth rolls, it is preferred to pass the wheat through
the smooth roll step three times. The number of passages through the smooth roll are dependent in
part upon wheat hardness. Consequently, after passage through the first smooth roll the flour is
passed through a second smooth roll which is also a pair of side-by-side separate cylindrical smooth
rolls. Again, the smooth rolls will have the smallest gap setting available, which is preferably 0.01 mm
or smaller. The separate rolls will again rotate at a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about
600 rpms. Preferably, the separate smooth rolls will have a speed differential ranging between about
2:1 and about 3: 1, with one roll having a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about 250 rpms
and the other roll having a speed ranging between about 500 rpms and about 600 rpms. The second
smooth roll will further grind the flour to a smaller particle size and cause further shear and
consequently increased starch damage.
After passage through the second smooth roll, the flour is then preferably passed through a third
smooth roll. The third smooth roll will also be comprised of a pair of side-by-side separate cylindrical
smooth rolls. The separate smooth rolls will be the same as discussed above so that the gap setting
will be as close as possible, with the gap setting preferably being 0.01 mm or smaller. Again the
separate rolls will rotate at a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about 600 rpms. Preferably,
the separate smooth rolls will have a speed differential ranging between about 2:1 and about 3: 1, with
one roll having a speed ranging between about 200 rpms and about 250 rpms and the other roll
having a speed ranging between about 500 rpms and about 600 rpms. The third smooth roll will further
grind the flour to a smaller particle size and cause further shear to the flour. The third passage may be
necessary if the wheat used is quite soft. Over grinding for the third time should achieve the desired
amount of starch damage in the atta flour. It should also be noted that one smooth roll may be used so
long as the wheat is passed through the smooth roll a total of two (2) or three (3) times.
After passage through the smooth rolls, the flour is sifted through a U.S. mesh 40 screen, wherein the
flour which passes through the U.S. mesh 40 screen has a sufficient particle size and shear to be used
as an atta flour. The coarse ground wheat retained on the U.S. mesh 40 screen can be optionally
reground by passing the wheat through the corrugated rolls again or the smooth rolls again or both.
Additionally, other methods may be used to grind the coarse ground wheat, such as a hammer mill or

disc mill. It is even more preferred to pass the flour through a U.S. mesh 60 screen, as this will result
in an atta flour having a finer granulation.
An amount of the fines from the ground bran of the wheat should be mixed with the atta flour. Fines
are ground bran from the wheat having a small particle size. The fines appear to contain ash and as
such the addition of the fines will influence the color of the atta flour by adding an amount of ash to the
atta flour. Enough of the fines should be added so that the atta flour has an amount of ash equal to
between about 1% and about 2%.
The atta flour formed according to the present method will have an amount of starch damage ranging
between about 13% and about 17%, more preferably the atta flour will have an amount of starch
damage equal to about 15%. Also, it is preferred for the atta flour to have an amount of ash equal to
between about 1% and about 2% by weight of the atta flour, more preferably an amount of ash equal
to about 1.2% by weight of the atta flour will be present in the atta flour. This amount of ash will cause
bread formed from the dough made from the present atta flour to have a golden color, which appears
to be desired by consumers. It is also preferred if the atta flour has a moisture level equal to between
about 8% and about 11% and an amount of protein ranging between about 9% and about 12%.
As mentioned, the atta flour is ideally suited for forming dough for forming various types of Asian
breads. The atta flour can have an amount of water added thereto and be used to form doughs which
then form chapati, naan, parota, roli, and roti breads.
The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit the claims in any
way.
EXAMPLES Example 1
Preliminary trials were conducted at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where Atta flour
samples were prepared and analyzed. Hard red winter wheat (HRW) was used to produce the atta
flour.
First, an atta flour sample was prepared wherein the HRW wheat, 5 kg, was initially cracked by
passing the wheat through the three successive corrugated rolls of an Allis Chalmers laboratory mill.
The corrugated rolls were comprised of two separate cylindrical rolls. Passage through the corrugated
rolls involved successive gradual grinding, so that the wheat was ground to a smaller size through
each corrugated roll. As such, the gap settings through the breaks in the corrugated rolls were set to
open the kernels in the first break, remove the endosperm in the second break, and to remove more
endosperm in the third break and separate the endosperm from the bran. The endosperm was then
further separated by sifting and ground to a flour by passing the endosperm through a pair of smooth
rolls. The smooth rolls were was also made by Allis Chalmers. The roll speed and gap settings were
those parameters suggested by the manufacturer. The atta flour, after passage through the smooth
roll, had an amount of starch damage equal to about 5%. Passage through one smooth roll was
considered an unacceptable procedure because there was only 5% starch damage, this is an

insufficient amount of starch damage for an atta flour. Thus, it was concluded that wheat passed once
through a roller mill produced an unacceptable atta flour.
Example 2
Next, an atta flour was produced the same as above in Example 1, but after passage through the roller
mill or smooth mill the ground wheat was put through a ball mill for 24 hours. The atta flour produced
by passage through a roller mill and a ball mill had an amount of starch damage equal to 17.7%. While
the atta flour produced according to this process had acceptable starch damage, it was determined
that this method was unacceptable because ball milling is not presently economical or available
commercially.
Example 3
Tests were conducted by United Milling Systems of Denmark, who conducted a plurality of tests.
Seven (7) samples were prepared using different milling procedures including disc milling, flaking roller
milling, and combinations of disc and roller milling to produce atta flour samples. The milling
procedures were performed on Indian wheat. In the samples analyzed below, the disc milling, roller
disc, types A, B, and C columns disclosed the results from passing whole wheat through a disc mill
having a different gap settings, so that different granulations of flour were produced. The production of
the flour using different gap settings was designed to determine if different granulations resulted in
different levels of starch damage. Passage through the disc mill was preceded by passage through a
flaking roll. The Maida Roller Mill, listed below, involved passing whole wheat through a roller mill once
and did not include further grinding of the bran. The following table shows the analytical results of
seven different processes compared to stone ground flour, which is the Gold Seal Atta.
__________________________________________________________________________Sample #
ID 10098 11423 11424 11945 11946 11947 11948 11949 GOLD DISC ROLLER TYPE TYPE TYPE
MAIDA MAIDA SEAL ATTA MILL DISC A B C ROLLER ROLLER
DISC__________________________________________________________________________Moi
sture 9.0 11.15 12.15 9.0 9.1 9.50 9.10 9.70Ash: 1.078 0.901 0.795 0.964 0.933 0.946 0.741
0.636Protein: 10.11 10.16 10.28 10.40 10.12 10.55 9.18 10.10FarinographAbsorption: 76.3 64.0 64.6
66.9 67.6 68.8 69.8 69.5Arrival: 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.0Peak: 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 3.0
3.0Departure: 3.5 3.5 3.5 4.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0Stability: 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.0MTI: 120 125 125
100 95 115 100 95FN: 592 471 552 596 567 536 630 503Alpineon 100: 13.0 27.4 27.4 0.6 0.5 1.4 0.2
0.3on 200: 42.2 51.8 58.3 24.0 23.6 28.8 24.8 18.9on 325: 65.9 71.6 77.0 51.6 55.8 60.8 63.4 61.8on
400: 88.7 78.9 83.0 63.8 66.8 71.5 73.6 76.4Color (Dry)L*: 88.3 88.1 89.1 89.6 90.2 89.9 91.0 92.2a*:
0.4 0.4 0.2 0.40 0.3 0.4 0.0 -0.2b*: 12.4 12.9 12.4 11.4 11.1 11.4 10.0 9.6Starch Damage: 15.1 4.9 5.8
6.7 7.3 8.6 9.6 10.0Wet Gluten: 17.97 29.1 26.4 25.1 22.2 23.9 21.1 21.1Gluten Index: 0.38 0.15 0.15
0.07 0.10 0.06 0.33
0.40__________________________________________________________________________
Gold Seal Atta is a commercially produced atta flour in India made by a stone grinding method, as can
be seen the Gold Seal Atta has sufficient starch damage. The remaining atta flours, however, had

insufficient starch damage. These seven (7) different milling process were determined to be
unacceptable.
Example 4
Milling trials to develop a suitable atta flour were next conducted at the ConAgra Milling Research
facility in Omaha, Nebr.
The first trial involved pin milling 4000 lb. of patent flour at a rate of 2000 lbs./hour, that had 7.3%
starch damage prior to pin milling the flour. Patent flour is also known as white flour and has 0.5% by
weight ash. The patent flour was produced commercially at the ConAgra Flour Milling Company's
Omaha B flour mill and then passed through an Alpine pin mill to reduce the particle size, so that 48%
of the flour particles pass through a U.S. mesh 400 screen. Passage through the Alpine pin mill
increased starch damage in the patent flour to 9.4%. Pin milling was considered unacceptable
because there was insufficient starch damage, in particular there was not enough shear.
Example 5
Next, 1000 lb. of patent flour having 10.5% protein was heated to a temperature of 390 F. for 120
seconds in an APV dryer. Two (2) kg of the heat treated flour was passed once through an Allis
Chalmers smooth roll mill with a gap setting of 0.01 mm, with the individual rolls which formed the
smooth roll set to rotate at a speed 250 rpms and 500 rpms respectively. The flour produced had an
amount of starch damage equal to about 9.0%. This process was unacceptable as there was
insufficient starch damage and the heat treating step was not economical.
Example 6
An amount of Platt wheat, which is hard red winter wheat, was ground by a mill to an ultrafine grade
whole wheat flour at the Con Agra Flour Milling Company's Alton flour mill located in Alton, Illinois. The
ultrafine grinding produced a flour having approximately 45% of the particles pass through a 400 mesh
screen and 100% of the particles pass through a 100 mesh screen. The mesh screens are U.S. mesh.
The ultrafine grinding produced a flour that had 7.5% starch damage. The ultrafine grinding process
did not cause enough shear for increased starch damage and as such was unacceptable.
Example 7
An amount of HRS and Durum wheat were mixed together in a 9:1 by weight ratio mixture, wherein
the HRS wheat was equal to 9 parts by weight and the Durum wheat was equal to 1 part by weight.
The wheat mixture was milled in a Buhler Laboratory pneumatic mill set to produce flour having an
amount of ash equal 0.57% by weight of the flour. The mill was comprised of three break rolls and
three reduction rolls, with a plan sifter under each roll. The HRS and Durum wheat were combined to
equal a total amount of wheat equal to 2 Kg. The coarse bran was discarded, but the short was ground
in a Laboratory Wiley mill and added to the combined break and reduction flours. The mixed flour was
then passed through the smooth rolls of Allis Chalmer smooth roll twice. The smooth roll was
comprised of two cylindrical individual smooth rolls, with one roll rotating at a speed of about 250 rpms
and the other roll rotating at a speed of about 500 rpms. The resulting atta flour had starch damage

equal to about 12.6%. This level of starch damage was encouraging as the level of starch damage
increased from 5% in Example 1, where the flour was passed through the smooth mill once, to 12.6%
in the present Example.
Example 8
An amount of HRW wheat equal to two (2) kilograms was tempered to 16% moisture by weight of the
wheat by adding 120 cc of water to the wheat, with the wheat and water mixed together in a mixer for
15 minutes. The tempered wheat was then placed in a laboratory freezer overnight and frozen. The
frozen wheat was then removed from the freezer and cracked in a Laboratory Wiley mill. After cracking
the wheat in the Wiley mill it was passed twice through the smooth roll of an Allis Chalmers mill. The
smooth roll was comprised of two individual smooth rolls, with one roll rotating at a speed of about 250
rpms and the other roll rotating at a speed of about 500 rpms. It was found that the atta flour produced
had starch damage equal to about 21.0%. This high starch damage resulted from disruption caused by
ice crystal pressure on starch granules in the wheat, as well as, the shear of grinding. This method
was considered unacceptable because it is not presently commercially feasible.
Example 9
An amount of hard red winter wheat (HRW) equal to 1000 g was tempered to 14% moisture by adding
47 cc of water to the wheat, the wheat and water mixture was then mixed in a mixer for 15 minutes.
The tempered HRW wheat was then dried overnight in a forced air oven, at a temperature of 95 C.
Following drying, the wheat was cracked in Allis Chalmers corrugated roll and then further ground in
an Allis Chalmers smooth roll by passing it twice through the smooth roll. The smooth roll was
comprised of two individual cylindrical smooth rolls, with one roll rotating at a speed of about 250 rpms
and the other roll rotating at a speed of about 500 rpms. The atta flour had an amount of starch
damage equal to about 17.8%. While sufficient starch damage was achieved, this method was
believed to be unsuitable because of the required long drying time, overnight. It was determined that
the starch damage is due to shear of the smooth roll rather than drying.
Example 10
An amount of HRW wheat equal to two (2) Kg and having an amount of protein equal to 11% was
milled by passing it through a corrugated roll once and a smooth roll twice, the same as in Example 9.
After passage through the smooth roll, the flour was sifted on the 20 mesh screen of a laboratory sifter
which was a Great Western Table Top sample sifter. All the bran on top of the 20 mesh screen was
further ground in the smooth roll and added to the flour to make an atta flour. It was found that the
starch damage in the flour was equal to about 15.9%. The ash content of the flour was over 1.6% by
weight of the flour, as all of the ground bran was added to the flour. The chapati made from the atta
flour was too dark, so that the atta flour was determined to be unacceptable. However, the amount of
starch damage was desirable.
Example 11

An amount of HRW wheat equal to two (2) Kg and having 11.3% protein was milled by first cracking
the wheat in a first break roll made by Allis Chalmers. The wheat was cracked successively the same
as in Example 1, with gap settings set at 8, 4, and 1 to gradually reduce the particle size. The wheat
was then ground by passing it through a sizing roll. Finally, the ground wheat was passed through a
smooth roll at a speed differential of 400:200, so that one individual cylindrical roll rotated at 400 rpms
and the other individual cylindrical roll at 200 rpms. After passage through the reduction roll, the flour
was sifted through a 40 mesh screen in a laboratory sifter, which was a Great Western Table Top
sample sifter. The bran was reground in the smooth roll of the mill and added to the flour. The flour had
starch damage equal to about 11.3%. The flour produced was considered unacceptable because there
was insufficient starch damage. It was determined that successive particle size reduction and sifting
produced an insufficient amount of starch damage due to less shear. Regrinding of the product
increased the starch damage.
Example 12
An amount of F mix wheat (HRW) equal to two (2) Kg and having an amount protein equal to about
11.4% by weight of the wheat was milled by passing the wheat through a corrugated roll manufactured
by Allis Chalmers. The corrugated roll was comprised of two individual cylindrical rolls, with one roll
rotating at a speed equal to about 250 rpms and the other roll rotating at a speed equal to about 500
rpms. The gap setting on the Allis Chalmers corrugated roll was equal to 0.075 mm. The wheat was
then passed twice through an Allis Chalmers smooth roll reduction roll set at the closest gap setting
available 0.02 mm and the same speed differential as the corrugated roll. The product was sifted
through a 40 mesh screen in a laboratory sifter, which was a Great Western Table Top sample sifter.
The bran on top of the screen was ground to reduce the particle size and sifted. The fines were added
to the flour to bring the ash content to about 1.1%. The flour produced had an amount of starch
damage equal to 14.0%. The atta flour produced was considered acceptable.
The primary differences between the method of the present Example and the method of Example 11,
was that the present method involved successive grinding at a close gap setting. Comparatively,
Example 11 involved successive grinding at a gradually smaller gap settings.
Example 13
A flour was prepared the same as in Example 12 except the flour was passed through the smooth roll
three times. The resulting flour produced had an amount of starch damage equal to 17.9%. The flour
produced was considered acceptable. This demonstrated that increased shear and repeated grinding
resulted in increased starch damage.
Example 14
A different class of wheat, hard white wheat (HWW) was milled by passing it through the corrugated
roll having an open setting the same as in Example 12. The wheat was passed through the smooth roll
twice the same as in Example 12. The resulting flour had an amount of starch damage equal to 16.0%.
The chapati formed from the atta flour had good texture and good color. This demonstrated that
different types of wheat could be used to produce the atta flour.

Example 15
An amount of soft white wheat (SWW) equal to two (2) Kg was milled the same as in Example 12. It
should be noted that flour from SWW wheat typically has from about 3% to 5% starch damage. The
resulting atta flour had an amount of starch damage equal to 12.9%. The dough was slightly sticky and
the chapati formed from the atta flour was good, especially in color.
Example 16
ConAgra atta flour was compared with a commercial atta flour made by Pillsbury India. The Pillsbury
flour is produced by a stone grinding method. The ConAgra flour was produced the same as disclosed
in Example 12, except that the flour was made from 5 kg of Indian white wheat, which is a semi-hard
wheat. As can be seen from Example 12, the wheat was passed through a corrugated roll followed by
passage through a smooth roll twice. The results were as follows:
______________________________________Physical and Chemical Analysis of two Atta
floursParameter Pillsbury Atta ConAgra Atta______________________________________Moisture
% 8.82 9.57Ash % 1.161 1.185Protein % 10.54 9.32Farinograph Absorption % 74.1 78.1Farinograph
Arrival time 3 min. 3 min.Farinograph Peak time 4.5 min. 4 min.Farinograph Departure time 6 min. 4.5
min.Farinograph Stability 3 min. 1.5 min.Farinograph Mixing 90 BU 80 BUTolerance IndexFalling # 572
seconds 507 secondsColor L* Dry flour 89.1 88.7Color A* Dry flour 0.6 0Color B* Dry flour 12
12.2Starch Damage % 13.4 17.9Wet Gluten % 37.23 35.21Gluten Index. 0.75 0.88Mixograph Peak
time 2.3 min. 2.1 min.Mixograph Tolerance 10.5 min. 8.5 min.Polyphenol Oxidase (PPO) 493
nanomoles 215 nanomoles O2/gm/min O2/gm/minParticle size % on U.S. 100 10 30mesh
sieveParticle size % on U.S. 200 46.5 64.6mesh sieveParticle size % on U.S. 325 73.6 83.9mesh
sieveParticle size % on U.S. 400 87.2 88.6mesh sieve______________________________________
The moisture, ash, and protein data related to the amount of each constituent found by weight in each
of the atta flours. The percent moisture in the atta flour was determined by the American Association of
Cereal Chemists (AACC) method 44-16. The percent ash in the atta flour was determined by AACC
method 8-01. The percent protein in the atta flour was determined by AACC method 46-30. The AACC
method # used to determine the amount of moisture, ash, and protein and used in many of the tests
discussed below refers to a standard method published by the American Association of Cereal
Chemists (AACC). The AACC is an international organization that reviews analytical research and
publishes standard methods.
Farinograph related to measurements taken by a farinograph, which was made by C.W. Brabender
Co. model 810101, located South Hackensack, N.J. A farinograph is commonly used to test dough and
flour mixing characteristics which include water absorption, optimum mixing time, and resistance of
dough to breakdown. The dough tested by the farinograph was prepared according to AACC Method
54-21.
Falling # relates to an indirect measurement of alpha amylase activity in flour. The method is based on
the ability of the alpha amylase to degrade starch gels, with the falling # test procedure based on
AACC procedure 56-81B. The higher falling numbers, above 300, indicate low amylase activity and

sound wheat, the low falling number, below 250, indicate high amylase activity and sprout damaged
wheat. Amylase activity relates to enzymes which will degrade starch into sugar.
Color L, "a", "b" values, more specifically, L Dry, "a" Dry, and "b" Dry relate to the color of the flour.
These measurements were made using a colorimeter, product colorgard systems 1000, sold by Pacific
Scientific located in Silver Springs, Md. The L Dry value relates to lightness (100) to darkness (0), so
that the lighter the material the higher the number. The "a" Dry value indicates greenness (-ve) to
redness (+ve) and the "b" Dry value indicates blueness (-ve) to yellowness (+ve).
Starch damage was measured by using a megazyme starch damage assay procedure sold by
Megazyme International Ireland, Ltd., Ireland, the megazyme procedure was performed under AACC
Method 76-31 . The test related to the physical damage to starch granules in the atta flour due to
milling. The starch damage relates to flour quality, as it affects water absorption and mixing properties
of dough made from flour. High starch damage is preferred in atta flour as it improves water absorption
and puffing characteristics.
Wet gluten is a visco-elastic substance obtained by mixing an amount of wheat flour and with an
amount of water. A glutomatic apparatus made by Perten, model # Glutomatic 2200, located in
Huddiag, Sweden, was used in the mechanical determination of the wet gluten content. The procedure
used to test the gluten was under AACC 38-12. To perform the test a flour-water dough was prepared
by adding a small quantity of 2% NaCl solution to the flour and washing the starch to obtain a gluten
ball. Residual water was removed by centrifugation, with the wet gluten percentage determined by
weighing the centrifuged gluten ball. The gluten index is the percentage of strong gluten that is
retained inside the sieve to the total gluten. This is a measure of gluten strength.
Gluten index is a method for measuring wet gluten characteristics, with the gluten index determined
the same as the wet gluten. After obtaining wet gluten from the Glutomatic, it is centrifuged against a
special sieve for one minute and weighed. The special sieve permits the collection of both parts of the
gluten; the part that passed through the sieve and the part that was retained by the sieve. The percent
of gluten retained by the sieve is defined as the Gluten Index. Low values represent weak flour protein
and high values represent strong flour protein.
Mixo relates to data assembled using a mixograph. The mixograph, made by National Manufacturing,
provides information regarding optimum development time, stability, and other characteristics of
dough. The longer mixing time indicates the stronger flour and the longer tolerance time indicates an
increased tolerance for overmixing.
PPO relates to the amount of polyphenol oxidase found in the flour. Polyphenol oxidase is an enzyme
responsible for enzymatic browning reactions in whole wheat flours. It is preferred to have a low PPO
percentage as found in the ConAgra atta listed above. The PPO is determined using the method
disclosed by D. W. Hatcher and J. E. Kruger in 1993, in an article entitled "Distributions of Polyphenol
Oxidase in Flour Millstreams of Canadian Common Wheat Classes Milled to Three Extraction Rates",
in Cereal Chem., 70:51-55.

Particle size relates to the granulation of flour as measured by an Alpine Jet Sieve and the percent
flour remaining on each sieve (U.S. mesh sizes 100, 200, 325, and 400). Coarse flour was indicated
by the high percentage of flour on the smaller mesh sizes, for example 100.
From the above tests it was found that flour produced according to the present method was very
similar to the flour produced according to the commercial stone grinding method. It was determined
that the two flours were essentially the same except that the two flours had a different granulation,
which was determined by the Alpine. Importantly, it was determined that a flour could be produced
under the present method which resembled a flour produced according to a stone grinding method.
Example 17
Two bread doughs were formed, one from Pillsbury atta flour and one from ConAgra atta flour, by
adding roughly 100 grams each of the flours to two (2) separate vessels. Water in an amount equal to
68 grams per 100 grams of flour was then added to the flour until the hydration was good and the
dough was then kneaded manually. The dough was thoroughly hand kneaded, compressed between
the palm and kept for 10-20 minutes in a closed vessel prior to use.
The hand compressed doughs were then drawn out, shaped into small balls of roughly 1.5 inch
diameters and rolled out into round, flat plates. The two (2) sets of doughs were then converted into
chapatis or rotis.
To form the chapatis, the flat dough was heated on a hat tawa, which is a hot plate, under a controlled
flame. After about a minute, the dough was reversed. After another minute, a little amount of "ghee",
which is essentially butter, was added and spread over the dough, the dough was then reversed and
the process continued so as to shallow roast the dough in "ghee" until the chapatis were ready. The
manufactured chapatis were then kept covered in a vessel for consumption for approximately half an
hour.
The rotis were formed by heating the flat dough on a hot tawa. After about a minute, the flat dough
was reversed. Further to this, the material was heated in a direct flame and reversed until the rotis
puffed. The prepared rotis were drawn out, spread with a small amount of ghee and kept closed in a
vessel until further use for consumption almost half an hour later.
After the formation of the breads they were then analyzed in a side-by-side comparison with 1 being
highly unacceptable and 10 being highly acceptable.
______________________________________ Pillsbury Atta ConAgra Atta Chapati Roti Chapati
Roti______________________________________Appearance 8 8.5 8.5 9Flavor 9 8.5 9 9Puffing 9 9
9 9Softness 9 9 8.5 7.5Overall 9 8.5 8.5 8______________________________________
It was concluded that the two atta flours produced breads having very similar results.
After conducting the following experiments it was concluded that high starch damage could be
achieved by repeated and over grinding of the wheat in a roller mill, meaning multiple passes through

the roller mill. It was further concluded that no tempering of the wheat prior to milling was required.
The preferred process involved cracking the wheat in a corrugated roll to reduce particle size, followed
by passing the cracked wheat stock through two to three successive smooth rolls at the closest
setting, at a low feed rate, and a speed differential of 2:1 to 3: 1, with no sifting between the
successive passes required. The flour was then preferably sifted through a U.S. mesh 40 screen, with
the over being reground and sifted, and the fines added to the flour to bring the ash content to from
about 1. 1% to about 1.3%.
Example 18
______________________________________ Milling Ash Protein StarchBrand Procedure Moisture
14% MB 14% MB Damage______________________________________Gold Seal Stone 9.0 1.078
10.1 15.1Annaurna Stone 8.9 1.123 10.6 14.9Chakki Roller 8.7 1.219 11.2 10.0Special Roller 12.5
0.487 9.8 6.6Resultant Roller 11.4 0.838 10.7 7.5Surgarana Roller 12.6 0.555 9.7 7.4S. Special Roller
12.0 0.523 9.8 8.1Captain Cook Stone 8.3 1.267 10.7 15.1Shakki Bhog Roller 11.9 1.219 10.5
11.5Truptha Roller 11.9 1.025 10.5 6.6Golden Roller 11.0 1.19 11.3 10.5TempleSWAD Roller 12.1
1.262 11.5 9.3______________________________________
The above table shows the amount of ash and starch damage in various commercial flours sold in
India. The results importantly show that when a roller mill is used sufficient starch damage is not
achieved. Even when the amount of ash is sufficient the starch damage is insufficient. What this
demonstrates is that commercial methods for producing atta flour through a roller mill are presently
unknown.
Thus, there has been shown and described novel method for producing an atta flour which fulfills all of
the objects and advantages sought therefor. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however, that
many changes, variations, modifications, and other uses and applications for the subject method is
possible, and also changes, variations, modifications, and other uses and applications which do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is
limited only by the claims which follow.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for producing an atta flour, wherein said atta flour contains between about 13% and about
17% damaged starch and at least 1% ash, with said method consisting essentially of:
a) first, passing an amount of untreated wheat through a corrugated roll assembly so as to crack said
wheat's kernel and form an amount of cracked wheat;
b) second passing said cracked wheat through a smooth roll assembly to form an amount of flour;
c) followed by passing said flour through a smooth roll assembly to form twice ground flour;
d) passing said twice ground flour through a smooth roll assembly to form a thrice ground flour; and,
e) sifting said thrice ground flour through at least a U.S. mesh 40 screen to form said atta flour.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said smooth roll assembly in steps b, c, and d is comprised of a pair
of separate cylindrical rolls with one roll rotating at a speed of ranging between about 200 rpms and
250 rpms and the other roll rotating at a speed ranging between about 500 rpms and about 600 rpms.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said wheat is selected from the group consisting of Indian wheat,
plat wheat, HRS wheat, durum wheat, HRW wheat, SWW wheat, HWW wheat, and SRW wheat.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein one of said rolls rotates at a speed of 250 rpms and the other roll
rotates at a speed of 500 rpms.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said method includes adding an amount of fines to said atta flour.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said smooth roll assembly in steps b, c, and d has a gap setting of at
least 0.01 mm.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said corrugated roll is comprised of a pair of corrugated rolls with
one roll rotating at a speed of ranging between about 200 rpms and 250 rpms and the other roll
rotating at a speed ranging between about 500 rpms and about 600 rpms.
8. A method for producing an atta flour, wherein said atta flour contains between about 13% and about
17% damaged starch, and at least 1% ash with said method consisting of:
a) first, cracking an amount of untreated wheat to form an amount of cracked wheat;
b) second, passing said cracked wheat through a smooth roll assembly at least twice to form an
amount of ground flour; and,
c) sifting said ground flour through a U.S. mesh 40 screen to form said atta flour.
Atta flour is a wheat flour with an extraction of 95 % and belongs to the main staple foods in India
where it is consumed as flat bread (Chapatti or Roti). Conventional industrial Atta flour production is
realized by the parallel operation of several stone mills so called Chakki mills. This technology has
major drawbacks such as intensive maintenance, strong flour quality fluctuations, poor sanitation and
limited throughputs. We have been able to overcome all these constraints but to maintain the unique
Atta traits coming from the traditional process, setting a new standard for the industrial production of
high quality Atta flour. As basis for this development, relevant structure-process property relationships
of Atta flours were elucidated. Physicochemical, rheological, organoleptic (baking tests) as well as
flour shelf-life characteristics of several Atta flours were assessed by internal as well as external
analyses by the CFTRI in Mysore. A high total farinonograph water absorption 76 % (500 BU, 14%
moisture) and a high starch damage of 18 % (AACC 76-30.02, dry matter base) were identified as
key quality parameters for baking behaviour and flatbread softness. Furthermore, it could be shown
that a certain flour heat treatment during milling is necessary in order to assure the shelf-life stability of
the produced Atta flour.
India is renowned for its distinctive and regional culinary traditions. If wheat is to be eaten then what
has national appeal is its wide range of unleavened flat breads, particularly
its chapatis, rotis, naans, parontha and pooris. The flour, a wholemeal type called atta which to many
of us might seem a relatively unexciting commodity, is critical to producing the type of quality that any
discerning consumer demands of their bread. It could also have its own in-built fibre claim because of
the presence of ground up pieces of the husk.
By the way, atta is not whole wheat flour let alone be called it wobetide those who confuse the two !
Some variants of atta are mixed with maida which is a type of bleached flour where the outer layers
have been shredded away during milling to create slightly more appealing ingredients for use in curry.

Atta, like any flour-creation story started with the growing of wheat. We tend to associate wheat
growing in India with more northern climes leaving the sun-baked parts of that country to produce the
other great staple, rice. Whilst there is this north-south divide in India, the migration of the idea of
consuming bread to other parts of India and Pakistan for that matter is now complete.
In all parts of India , wheat flour is commonly used to produce this great range of breads and its quality
is highly important. The skill and expertise of the miller is a testament to how well they were educated
by their family and forms part of the tradition that is handed down. Knowing when the flour has the
right consistency is a valuable skill.
In fact, the quality of atta lends political overtones to that story. One of the flashpoints in the Indian War
of Independence in the late 40s with the British was the sorry state of wholemeal flour used for
chapattis on board ship. Atta flour, weevil infested, rotting and unfit for consumption was used to make
equally unpalatable breads which Indian naval ratings were expected to dine on. No wonder, mutiny
followed !
In either the Hindi or Urdu language, atta means dough which is how the whole meal flour is converted
with enough water to produce a Paul Hollywood pillow. The attaflour is produced by smashing and
grinding only Indian wheat cultivars. The specific Indian wheat cultivars are semi-hard types which are
similar to durum wheat used to make Tipo OO in Italy. They make up about 90% of the wheat crop in
India and whilst it might be feasible to produce atta with Canadian or European wheat cultivars, only
Indian wheat is regarded as suitable enough.
Atta flour has a a typical fibre content of between 0 and 12% w/w which is quite a wide range. The
wholemeal type is produced by grinding the wheat grains to produce a creamy brown coloured, coarse
powder. White atta flour tends to be preferred by the Indian housewife though, so dehulled wheat
grains are commonly needed as feedstock.
As with most flour production, grinding between stones called a chakki is the historic process of choice
for generating the flour. These were traditionally driven by a couple of women who would prepare the
flour daily but many chakkies are now electrically driven. About 5 to 7% of the coarse bran is removed
and the flour is then turned to dough with kneading and the addition of water.
Atta flour has a characteristic aroma and flavour. The temperatures reached during the grinding of the
stones is up to 125 C and least 110 C as they rub generating frictional energy which tears the husk
from the germ. Apparently, the carotenes in the bran are modified to produce the characteristic roasted
aroma and impart a level of sweetness to the flour.

Types of Flour Ground from Wheat

One of the primary reasons for the popularity of wheat flour is due to its gluten forming
capacity when the flour is mixed with liquid. Gluten is the substance that provides dough
with elasticity and the ability to stretch as the leavening agent produces carbon dioxide
gas, which enables the dough to rise effectively. The more protein in the wheat flour (as is
the case with flour milled from hard wheat), the more gluten is formed when the flour is
mixed with liquid.
Various types of wheat are milled into a wide range of flours that are used for specific
purposes:

Hard wheat varieties, including hard white, hard red winter, and hard red spring
wheat have a high protein content (ranging from 10 to 14 percent), which means
the gluten forming capacity is also higher. This characteristic makes hard wheat
flour varieties, (which includes bread flour, gluten flour, and many of the wholewheat varieties), especially suitable for baking yeast breads and similar products.
Soft wheat varieties include soft white and soft red winter, which are both used for
products, such as cakes, cookies, and pastries that do not require the same level
of leavening capability as yeast breads. The protein content of soft wheat varieties,
such as cake and pastry flour, usually ranges from 6 to 10 percent.
Durum wheat is the hardest wheat grown. It is used almost exclusively for making
pasta and is most often ground into a granular flour with a light yellow color known
as semolina, which has the ideal properties for making the best pasta. (Italian
pasta makers never refer to semolina as flour - they refer to it as grain.) Durum is
high in protein and gluten, which are necessary for making good pasta. It is
occasionally used for baked goods (especially risen breads), but it is not used for
this purpose as often as other wheat varieties.

All-Purpose Flour
As the name suggests, all-purpose flour is
suitable for most purposes and is perhaps
the most commonly used wheat flour for
general baking and cooking. It is produced
from a combination of high protein bread
flour and low protein cake flour. The bread
flour is milled from a variety of hard wheat,
which contains high levels of gluten. This is
a necessary component for baked items to
rise properly.
The cake flour is milled from a variety of soft
wheat, which is lighter, contains lower levels
of gluten, and results in baked items that are
tender and less dense. The combination of
the flours gives the all-purpose flour just the
right balance for most baked goods.

Bleached All-Purpose Flour

All-purpose wheat flour is available in

bleached and unbleached varieties. Wheat
flour becomes white (actually off-white)
naturally through oxidation, which in earlier
times was the method used by flour millers
to create white flour. This eventually became
impractical because of the time and space
required for large quantities of flour to
oxidize naturally so chemical bleaching was
developed, which hastens the whitening
process.

Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

The advantage of using bleached flour
rather than unbleached is that the chemicals
used for bleaching (usually chlorine, which
evaporates after it is added to the flour) act
as a preservative so that the flour will not develop an off flavor or spoil after a short period.
The chemicals also prevent dough from becoming discolored and provide more consistent
results when baking, however the chemicals affect the gluten strength of the flour,
therefore bread makers often prefer unbleached flour. Unbleached all-purpose flour is
often better for preparing several types of dough because the dough is easier to handle
and the resulting baked goods are quite tender.
All-purpose flour can be used for almost any recipe requiring flour such as breads, cakes,
and pastries; as a coating for meat, vegetables, and other food items intended for frying or
sauting; and as a thickening agent for gravies, sauces, and stews.
Bolted Flour
Bolted flour is a type of whole-wheat flour in which nearly 80 percent of the bran has been
removed. Bolted flour may also be referred to as reduced bran wheat flour.
Bread Flour
Bread flour is unbleached, high-gluten flour that
typically contains 99.9 % hard wheat flour with
malted barley added to increase the yeast
activity, making it ideal for bread making. The
high gluten content is necessary in order for
bread to rise effectively. The use of bread flour
results in larger bread loaves with a lighter and
less crumbly texture. Bread flour is most often

used in the commercial baking industry and is often confused with gluten flour, which has a
higher gluten content than bread flour. Bread flour is also referred to as unbleached flour.
Bromated Flour
Bromides added to flour help to ensure
consistent results in baked goods. The
bromides help to strengthen the flour to achieve
optimum gluten formation for bread making.
Bromated flour is rarely used in the United
States because ascorbic acid is now used to
strengthen wheat flour that is specifically used
for bread making.

Cake Flour
Cake flour is produced from the endosperm
portion of the wheat kernel of soft wheat
varieties. It is high in starch and has a low
protein content, which means that it contains
very little gluten, making it suitable for cake
recipes.
If cake flour is not available, cornstarch makes
a good substitute. All-purpose flour can also be
used although the results will not be quite as
light and airy. Subtract 2 tablespoons from each
cup specified in the recipe when using all-purpose flour as a substitute for cake flour.
Chapati Flour
Chapati flour is produced from whole wheat that has been ground to a very fine
consistency. It is extremely popular in India and is used to prepare a number of Indian
flatbreads including chapatis and rotis.
Enriched Flour
Enriched flours have been processed from grain
to remove the bran and germ, bleached to
whiten the appearance, and then reformulated
with nutrients, such as thiamin, riboflavin,
niacin, Vitamin D, iron, and calcium added in
accordance with established government
guidelines. It is necessary to add the nutrients
because of the removal of the bran and germ,
which contain most of the nutrients found in
wheat grain. The main advantage in removing
the oily germ is that flour keeps for much longer
periods.
Many types of commercially milled flours are enriched. The Food and Drug Administration
mandates that every package of all-purpose flour be enriched due to the removal of the
nutrient-rich bran and germ during the milling process.
Farina
Farina is a type of flour or meal made from almost any type of grain, nut, or starchy root,
but is most often made from wheat. It is usually boiled in water to create a bland tasting hot

breakfast cereal or it can be used as an ingredient in other dishes. Farina is produced with
removal of the bran from hulled wheat grains and then grinding the grains into a fine
powder. The endosperm and some of the germ are the components of the grain that
remain. It is usually enriched with iron and B vitamins during processing due to the loss of
most of the nutrient-rich germ and all of the bran.
Gluten Flour
Gluten flour is produced from hard wheat that
has been treated to remove the starch. It
contains a greater percentage of gluten (at least
70% pure) than other types of flour and a lower
percentage of starch. The gluten content of the
flour has nearly twice the strength of regular
wheat flour. Gluten is the protein that gives
bread its elastic quality and aids in the rising
process of the dough.
Gluten flour is most often used as an additive
for various flours that are low in gluten or are
gluten free, but it tends to toughen bread if used in excess. It is very useful for the
preparation of pizza dough, bagels, and flat breads and rolls. It is often confused with
bread flour, which is fortified with additional gluten, but has a lower gluten content than
gluten flour.
Graham Flour
Graham flour is a type of wheat flour that is
slightly coarser than regular flour. The Rev.
Sylvester Graham, an early advocate of
healthier foods, developed the flour. He was
specifically interested in the beneficial uses of
bran in the diet and believed that bread should
not be made with highly processed flour, but
with whole-grain flour.
Graham flour is often confused with standard
whole-wheat, but there are some differences. In
Graham flour, coarsely ground flakes of bran are added and the wheat germ is usually
removed to lengthen the shelf life of the flour. Graham flour is most often used in the
production of graham crackers.
Instant Flour
Instant flour is a type that dissolves easily in liquids that range from cold to hot in
temperature. This type of flour is most often used when gravies, sauces, soups, and other
food items require thickening. Instant flour is also known as granular flour.
Organic Flour
Organic flour is milled from wheat that is grown
and processed according to specific standards.
Some of the standards include farming
practices that prohibit the use of synthetic pest
control and artificial fertilizers. Crop rotation is
used to minimize the risk from diseases and
pests. When the wheat is milled, it cannot be
exposed to any other non-organic foods during
processing. Specific rules on sanitation,
storage, packaging, and labeling are also required. An independent agency must certify
that the flour meets or exceeds the required organic standards and regular inspections are

required of the growers and the processors.

Pastry Flour
Pastry flour is produced from soft-wheat and it has a fine-texture and a high starch content.
Pastry flour is finely ground, but it is not as fine as cake flour. It is available in bleached
and unbleached varieties and is most often used for making flaky pie crusts, cookies,
biscuits, and assorted pastries. It is not suitable for bread making because the gluten
content is too low, but its gluten content is greater than that of cake flour.
Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is wheat flour in which the
leavening agent has already been added. The
leavening agent is generally in the form of
baking powder. Salt is also commonly added to
the mixture, so the sodium content is much
higher than other types of flour. Self-rising flour
is most often included in commercially prepared
packaged mixes, such as cake mixes, and was
developed as a means of saving time for the
home cook. It is very popular in the southern
United States where it is used more frequently
than in northern states. Self-rising flour should not be used in preparing yeast breads and it
is also worth noting that the leavening agent tends to lose its effectiveness the longer the
flour is stored.
Semolina Flour
Semolina is a granular flour with a light yellow
color. It is produced from durum wheat, which is
used almost exclusively for making pasta.
Durum wheat has the ideal properties for
making the best pasta. It is high in protein and
gluten, which are necessary components for
pasta making.
Semolina flour is available coarsely ground or
ground twice for a fine texture. Besides pasta,
semolina flour is occasionally used for gnocchi
(an Italian dumpling), various breads, and a variety of other baked goods. Bread made with
semolina flour has a crispy crust and a chewy interior. It is interesting to note that Italian
pasta makers never refer to semolina as flour - they refer to it as grain.
Tortilla Flour
Tortilla flour is a type of wheat flour that is most often used for quick breads, such as
muffins, biscuits, and dumplings, and flatbreads such as chapatis and tortillas.
Whole-Wheat Flour
Whole-wheat flour is produced from grinding the
full wheat berry (kernel). All parts of the wheat
berry are used in the flour including the bran,
germ, and the endosperm, which when milled,
creates the speckled brown color that is
characteristic of the flour. Three granulations
(particle size) of whole-wheat are produced:
fine, medium, and coarse. The particle size
influences the rate liquid is absorbed into the

flour. Finer grained flour absorbs liquid at a faster rate than medium or coarse grains, thus
affecting the preparation of the dough.
Fine grain whole-wheat flour is used for all types of baked goods, such as breads, rolls,
and pastries. Medium grained can be used for the same types of foods, but will provide a
coarser crumb. Coarse whole-wheat flour has a much larger bran particle and
consequently is most often used to provide breads with natural, nutty flavors and rough
textures.
Whole-wheat flour used for bread making is usually milled from red wheat. White wholewheat flour is milled from hard white winter wheat and has a milder flavor, lighter color, and
a texture that is not as course. Whole-wheat flour used alone in bread making results in a
nutritious, but smaller and denser loaf due to the bran, which hinders the dough from rising
fully. In order to create a bread loaf that is a bit lighter and of greater volume, it is often
best to combine whole-wheat flour with all-purpose flour or bread flour. Whole-wheat flour
may also be referred to as entire wheat flour or graham flour (although there are some
differences).
Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour
Like refined white pastry flour, whole-wheat pastry flour is produced from soft-wheat and it
has a fine-texture and a high starch content, however not all of the bran and germ portions
of the wheat kernel have been removed during the milling process. Because of the
presence of some of the bran and germ, pastry items made with whole-wheat pastry flour
are more nutritious than pastries made with white pastry flour, but they are not quite as
light and airy.

Atta

Atta is a type of whole meal flour, or pulverized whole wheat, that is used in Indian chapati, puri,
phulka, tandoori roti, and north Indian parotta.1
What is Atta?
Atta is brown in color as it is derived from the complete wheat kernel with bran. Atta has gluten, that
provides possessing and extensibility properties. Its the gluten in the atta that helps in the rolling of
chapathis.
Origin
Atta is from India. The word whole is used to describe atta as it includes every aspect of the grain,
meaning the bran, germ and the endosperm. In India, about 80% of the 94 million tons of wheat
produced is processed mainly into atta by disc mills numbering 4 lakhs.
Method
In India, Atta is obtained by grinding wheat in a plate/disc mill. The mill consists of two chilled-case
corrugated iron plates placed vertically. One of the plates is stationary, while other rotates. The wheat
entering from the hopper is ground between the plates due to shearing action as well as the

friction. Grinding of wheat in disc mills is very severe when compared to roller flour milling, hence the
damaged starch content present in atta (14-18 %) is more than wheat flour (8-10%). The atta with
damaged starch in the range of 14 16 % is considered to be most suited as it absorbs more water
and hence produces softer chapathi2. During the grinding of wheat in disc mills the friction increases
the temperature of atta up to 95oC. It is reported that at such high temperatures, the carotenes
present in the bran tend to exude the characteristic roasty smell, and contribute to the sweetness of
the atta3.
Application
For chapathi, the atta is mixed with water to form a dough. This dough is then sheeted to a circular
shape, baked on a hot plate and puffed over an open fire for few seconds. Complete and full puffing is
one of the important quality attributes of chapathi as it results in a soft and pliable texture.
Among the different species, Triticum aestivum which yields a non sticky dough with good
stretchability, and a fully puffed chapathi with soft and pliable texture, is most suitable for chapathi
preparation. When the species T. durum and T. dicoccum are used for chapathi making, a leathery
and chewy texture is obtained, which may then be perceived as a dry chapathi.
Physical properties of Atta
Atta is checked for the quality parameters like moisture, ash, acid insoluble ash, alcoholic acidity,
granulation profile, damaged starch, gluten content andwater absorption.
A finely ground flour, about 80-90 % passing through a 60 mesh sieve (130 m) is required for
chapathi making. The ash content of 1.2 1.5 %, protein (9.0 10.5 %) damaged starch (16-18 %)
and water absorption (72-78 %) are some of the important quality characteristics suitable for chapathi
making.
Nutrition
Atta has better nutritional characteristics than wheat flour as it contains higher amount of protein,
dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. But has comparatively poor shelf life due to the presence of oil
from the germ and fat breaking enzymes.
References
1. Haridas Rao, P. Chapati and Related Products, In: R. Macrae, R. K. Robinson and M. J.
Sadler, Eds., Encyclo- paedia of Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition, Vol. II,
Academic Press, London, 1993, pp. 795-801.
2. Haridas Rao, P., Leelavathi, K., Shrupalekar, S.R. 1989. Effect of damaged starch on chapatti
making quality of whole-wheat flour. Cereal Chemistry, 66, 329333
3. Leelavathi K, Haridas Rao P, Indrani D and Shurpalekar S. R. (1984). Physico chemical
changes in whole wheat flour (atta) and Resultant atta during storage. J. Fd. Sci. Technol, 21,
68 71.
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