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Germinated (or Sprouted) Flours

Germinated (or Sprouted) Flours

In recent years, the use of sprouted flours has significantly increased, and the promotion of these flours is seen on the packaging of products such as bread, cookies, and others. It’s a trend that originated in the United States and, like many others, is gaining momentum in Europe and other parts of the world. Generally, this trend is based on the nutritional benefits of sprouted grains, but it’s necessary to consider some aspects to effectively incorporate the use of sprouted…

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Psyllium, a very Interesting Fibre

Psyllium, a very Interesting Fibre

Psyllium is a natural food ingredient with interesting nutritional and functional properties, and one of the most commonly used gluten substitutes in gluten-free bread production. In this entry, we will clarify what it is, its nutritional advantages, its functional properties, and the products in which we can use it. Generally, when we talk about psyllium, we are referring to the husk of the seeds of plants of the genus ovata (typically Plantago ovata). The largest producer of this plant is…

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Inulin and Oligofructose (and other similar Fibres)

Inulin and Oligofructose (and other similar Fibres)

In the blog, we’ve already published a more general entry dedicated to fibres. As you may remember, we discussed aspects such as nutritional advantages, legislative issues, and their influence on the final product. However, we also mentioned that this influence greatly depends on the type of fibre and promised that there would be specific entries about some of these fibres. So, in this entry, we’re going to talk about soluble fibres that have little capacity for water absorption, and therefore…

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Fibres

Fibres

Fibres belong to the group of carbohydrates, but they are not assimilated as easily by the body. They are present in plant products, and their consumption has been associated with numerous nutritional benefits. For this reason, there is great interest in enriching baked goods, such as bread, with fibres. However, it is important to know what nutritional advantages they offer, what regulations govern these enrichments, and how fibres influence processes. The topic of fibres is very complex, so in this…

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Seeds

Seeds

Today we have a shorter entry, but you can expand your knowledge with the article we propose at the end, which is open access and free. Although all cereals, pseudocereals, and legumes that can be milled to obtain flour are seeds, in this section, we will discuss seeds that are usually incorporated whole into bread and baked products. These seeds have in common a high fat content. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain fine flours, although they can…

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Wholemeal bread, and how to improve its quality

Wholemeal bread, and how to improve its quality

After discussing wholemeal flours in our last entry, today we’ll talk about wholemeal bread, its advantages, and its challenges. Like all our blog posts, I aim for them to be comprehensive but not excessively lengthy. For this reason, I’ll be including some links to more extensive works, in case you want to delve deeper into any of the points. Nutritional aspects Today, the benefits of increased consumption of whole grain products are undeniable. This higher consumption has been linked to…

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Wholemeal Flours

Wholemeal Flours

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of consuming wholemeal products. And companies have taken on the challenge of producing higher-quality wholemeal products. In this post, we’ll analyse wholemeal flours, how to produce them, assess their quality, and explore the possibilities available to millers and manufacturers of wholemeal products. In a subsequent post, we’ll discuss the advantages of wholemeal products and how we can improve the quality of bread and other wholemeal products. Wholemeal Flour…

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Quinoa and Amaranth

Quinoa and Amaranth

In this post, we’re going to talk about two grains native to the Andean highlands, located between Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, which have been the basis of the diet for these communities since ancient times. Both grains have been consumed by the Incas and earlier cultures (for about 7000 years), and they have gained popularity in Western countries in recent years. These grains are quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus), also known as kiwicha in their countries of origin….

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Buckwheat

Buckwheat

General Aspects Buckwheat, or Fagopyrum esculentum, is a plant native to central and northeastern Asia. From there, it spread to Europe through Russia and Turkey in the 14th and 15th centuries, and later to North America. Its cultivation peaked in the 19th century, gradually declining up to the present day. However, in recent years, it has experienced growth due to the rise of gluten-free products and the nutritional quality of this grain. Currently, its cultivation is centred in China and…

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Special Rice

Special Rice

While most of the rice available on the market is white or brown rice of various varieties, there are also other types of rice distinguished by their processing. Let’s talk about them. Parboiled Rice The first of these rice products, and perhaps the most widely marketed worldwide, is parboiled rice, also known as vaporized or precooked rice. The origin of this rice dates back more than 2000 years and became popular in the Indian subcontinent due to its advantages for…

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