Effects of Wheat Bran Micronization on the Quality of Reconstituted Whole-Wheat Flour and Its Cooked Noodles

The particle size of wheat bran plays an important role in the quality of reconstituted whole-wheat flour and its products. The effects of wheat bran particle size on the quality of reconstituted whole-wheat flour and its cooked noodles were analyzed; the mean particle size (D50) of wheat bran ranged from 26.05 to 46.08 μm. Results show that the decreases in D50 of wheat bran induced the changes in the quality of whole-wheat flour and its noodles. Specifically, the damaged starch content, water absorption, and the solvent retention capacity of sodium carbonate and sucrose of whole-wheat flour increased at various degrees, while pasting viscosity decreased, and the gluten index and SDS-sedimentation volume increased first and then decreased. The cooking yield, cooking loss, and break rate of fresh noodles decreased first and reached a trough at D50 of 26.05 μm, and then increased. The adhesiveness of cooked noodles increased, the score of smoothness, taste, appearance, and color increased to a stable value, but the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, resilience, firmness score, and elasticity score increased first and then decreased. These turning points of changing trends of indexes mostly occurred when the D50 of wheat bran was 26.51 μm. In conclusion, whole-wheat noodles with wheat bran of D50 of 26.51 μm addition exhibit better cooking, textural, and sensory properties than those with smaller or larger wheat bran. Excessive crushing of wheat bran not only costs highly in terms of energy, but also has a negative impact on the quality of the noodles.