Optimization of wheat debranning using laboratory equipment for ethanol production

Ethanol production from starchy cereal grains is increasing rapidly due to increasing demand for alternative fuels.In Canada,wheat is the primary feedstock in ethanol plants.To improve the productivity of the ethanol plants in terms of product quality and yield,debranning of wheat grains may be employed.Debranning is advantageous in two ways.Firstly,bran removal increases the starch content of the feedstock,improving the fermentation efficiency of the ethanol plants.Secondly,bran,a valuable co-product can be used as an animal feed ingredient.In this study,experiments to optimize the debranning process were carried out using two kinds of abrasive equipment,the Satake and the TADD(tangential abrasive dehulling device)mills.Wheat samples(30 and 200 g)were debranned in the Satake mill at 1215,1412,and 1515 r/min rotational speeds,30,36,and 40 grit sizes,and 30,60,and 90 s retention times,and in the TADD mill at 900 r/min rotational speed,30,36,50,and 80 grit sizes,and 120,180,240,and 300 s retention times.In addition to debranning efficiency,the starch separation efficiencies of the two mills were calculated in different debranning conditions.In the Satake mill,the 30 g and 200 g sample size,1412 r/min and 1515 r/min rotational speeds,all grit sizes,and 60 s of retention time demonstrated the highest debranning efficiency.Correspondingly,optimal results in the TADD mill were obtained with 200 g sample size,900 r/min rotational speed,50 and 80 grit sizes,and 180 s and 240 s retention times.However,based on the experimental results,Satake mill provided better debranning values compared to the TADD mill.The starch separation efficiency values supported these results.

DON reduction of wheat grain without compromising the lab-scale milling properties of flour

Wheat branwas investigated to be themost commonly contaminated raw material by mycotoxins.However,there are no economical and practical pretreatment methods for industrial on-line application until now.The effect of light debranning on deoxynivalenol(DON)removal,polyphenol oxidase(PPO)activity and flour quality from lab-scale milling were performed.For on-line production,the DON concentration in wheat decreased 15.89%at debranning ratio of 1.2%.For lab experiment,the maximum DON removal for wheat and flour was 23.35%and 21.95%,respectively.However,the PPO activity,browning of dough sheet and flour qualities in lab scale exhibited no significant variation.Light debranning(1.2%)prior to milling could be efficiently applied to on-line wheat production.