Classification of Wheat

Classification of Wheat
Wheat belongs to the grass family, Gramineae, and the genus Triticum. The known species and varieties of the genus Triticum are said to number over 30,000. They can be assembles into three groups (races), which are traced from separate original ancestors and which differ in their number of chromosomes.

The classification suggests a possible explanation for differences in the flour from three wheat groups. Einkorn (T. monococcum) is used only as an animal feed. Emmer wheats are used for macaroni, spaghetti, and other pasta products, and not for breadmaking. Wheat from the spelt group is used in baked goods and other cereal products. The principle wheats of commerce are Triticum aestivum, Triticum compactum, both in the spelt group and Triticum durum, in the Emmer group.

In addition to their classification into groups based on chromosome number, wheats are classified as hard or soft referring to milling character and strong or weak.

The terms hard and soft wheat relate to the way the endosperm break during milling. In hard wheats, the endosperm tends to fracture along the lines of the cell boundaries, whereas in soft wheats the endosperm fractures in a random ways. Hard wheats yield coarse flour, consisting of regular-shaped particles, which is free flowing and easily sifted. In contrast, the flour from soft wheats is very fine and consists of irregularly-shaped particles, which tend to adhere together; such flour sifts with some difficulty.

Strength is a characteristic of wheat associated with the ability of its flour to produce bread of large loaf volume, good crumb texture and good keeping qualities. Strong wheats as a rule have a high protein content, whereas weak wheats have low protein contents. The flour from a weak wheat produces bread of small loaf volume, coarse crumb structure, and low protein content. Thus protein content is related to baking characteristics.
Classification of Wheat

Pineapples Harvesting

Pineapples Harvesting
Pineapples grow in plants developed from crowns top leafy portion of the fruit or from slips and shoots of the plant. The fruit matures in about 1.5 years, but in climates where pineapples is harvested for purpose of canning, planting times staggered such that some fruit reaches maturity and is harvested each month of the year.

There are two main varieties of pineapple. The red Spanish variety is grown mainly in Florida and the West Indies, as well as some other countries, and is used in the United States as the fresh product. The smooth cayenne variety is grown mainly in Mexico and Hawaii. The red Spanish variety, when ripe, is more acid and contains less sugar than does the smooth cayenne type. When ready for harvesting for purpose of canning, the smooth cayenne variety has about 0.5 – 0.6% acid (calculated as citric acid) and 10 – 12% sugar. The fruit is broken from the stalk. If the fruit is to be handled as fresh, it is placed in crates or trucks for transportation to the processing plant. If the fruit is to be canned, the crowns are broken off prior to placing in trucks or in crates and trucks.

Pineapples to be used as fresh may harvested in the matured green or ripe condition. They are packed in crates and air-cooled to 45 – 55 degree F. In this condition, the mature green fruit has a storage life 3 – 4 week, while the ripe fruit has a storage life of 2 – 4 weeks. Spoilage of fresh fruit is usually caused by fermentation due to the growth of yeasts or molds.
Pineapples Harvesting

Plums Production and Processing

Plums Production and Processing
Plum trees are set up when they are one year old and bear fruit the next year. There are many varieties of plums grown in many areas of the United States, The prune plum, used for production of dried prunes, is grown mainly in California. Purple plum types, used for canning, are grown mainly in Oregon and Washington.

At the processing plant, plums are washed in diluted acid or alkaline solutions to remove spray residues, and then rinse with water. They are next inspected to remove defective specimens and graded for size. Those to be sold as fresh are packed in boxes and air cooled to 31 to 32 degree F. In this condition, they have storage life of 2 – 4 weeks. Plums to be canned are cleaned, inspected and graded. Then they are placed in cans by hand and covered with 25 – 30% sugar syrup. The filled, open cans are then heat exhausted in water at 180 – 190 degree F for 12 – 15 minutes, after which the cans are sealed and heated in boiling water for 20 – 25 minutes, depending on the size of the container.

For production of dried prunes, plums are washed, dipped in boiling lye solution (0.25 – 1.0% sodium hydroxide) for 5 – 30 sec, and washed. The lye treatment enhances drying by its action on the skin of the fruit. The plums are then dried to a moisture content of 22 – 25%.

Dried prunes may be canned in syrup of 20 Brix with 0.4% citric acid, or they may be canned without added fluid (dry packed). Prunes may also be packaged and distributed as such.

A significant quantity of prune juice is produced. Prunes are steamed 8 – 10 min to soften them and to inactivate enzymes. They are then reduced to a puree during which time they are pitted, the puree is then cooled to about 120 degree F. The puree is filtered and the juice obtained is adjusted to about 22.5 Brix, pasteurized, filled into bottles or cans that are then placed on their sides to sterilize the tops, and cooled. Plums are not commercially frozen.
Plums Production and Processing

Brewing and Flavoring with Malt

Brewing and Flavoring with Malt
Brewing
For brewing, the whole malt is ground and cooked with water and frequently other cereal adjuncts in a process known as mashing. The products of this are wort, the distinctively flavored dilute extract in which the complex carbohydrates of the cereal mash have been enzymatically converted to fermentable sugars, the wort is boiled to sterilized it; hops and yeast are added; and the mixture is fermented to make beer.

Flavoring with Malt
Apart from its function in brewing beer, malt is a desirable flavor in other food products, with or without the enzyme activity. Barley malt can be milled to separate the hulls and provide a meal or flour products for use in dry formulation, or it can be extracted with water (as in mashing) and the resulting extract concentrated to a syrup or dehydrated to a powder for use in flavor formulations. In formulating with any of these preparations, care must be taken to specify whether the desired product is one that retains its enzyme activity – i.e., is “diastatic” – or does not retain enzyme activity (nondiastic). Diastase was the original name for malt amylase, in use before it was known to consist of both alpha and beta amylase. Nondiastatic products are usually used for flavoring breakfast cereal, as otherwise an unwelcome liquefaction of the starchy components of a formula may occur.

Malt syrup is normally a brown viscous liquid with poor flow properties that is typically diluted with water before being added to the grain. It is available in degree of color and flavor concentration and results in an attractive light brown color developing in cereals during cooking, However, the use of too much in a formula may result in bitterness in the finished product.
Brewing and Flavoring with Malt