Improvement of Falling Number on Romanian Wheat Flours

Abstract

The Romanian flours obtained by annually wheat crop are, in general, flours 
with a low alpha-amylase activity, with high Falling Number values, respectively. It does mean that these flours require an improvement for this activity because of bread quality (structure, volume, crust, etc.). An optimal Falling Number head for higher efficiency on baking production.  The study assesses the possibility of standardization of Falling Number values.  The flours have the Falling Number values between 62 sec. (in case of flours from sprouted grains) and 500 sec. (in case of flours with very low alpha-amylase activity). The optimal Falling Number is 250 sec. (recommended by Perten Company) or in the range 230…270 sec. (from Institute of Food Bioresources researches).  The improvement of Falling Number can be made by enzymes or malt added.  In our study we tested fungal alpha-amylase by different methods: baking tests, Falling Number tests, production and retention gases tests, respectively.