Digital Re-print - January | February 2010

Feature title: Generating added value through extrusion in the flour mill

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 Wenger_Lafe_General_105x297 10/2/08 11:45 AM Page 1
Extrusion Feature Feature Extrusion

We could talk all day about our quality and productivity.

the product recipe and short retention times ensure low energy
costs, especially in the downstream drying stage.
Thus, with a capacity of two tonnes per hour, the energy costs

Generating added value through per tonne of finished product are twice as high for the traditional But we’d rather
yours.
process than for the extrusion process.

extrusion in the flour mill

Furthermore, with a suitable setup, the extruder offers the
flexibility of also allowing related products such as baking beans
and croutons and even bread chips to be made on the same line.
talk about
by Christopher rubin, product marketing manager - Extrusion, buhler, Switzerland
By-products as a raw material
The extrusion of grain-based, starch containing raw materials is a process allowing all but boundless applications. Extrusion offers additional advantages. It can also process raw
Christopher Rubin, extrusion specialist in the Buhler Pasta and Extruded Products Business Unit, explains the materials such as very dark flours (low-grade flours) and wheat
possible value generation and benefits associated with the application of extruders. bran. Both are typically made available at low cost to the feed
manufacturing industry. You see, the real story is the
With the aid of the extruder, these by-products can be trans- customer solutions we deliver,

E
xtrusion serves the food
industry as an upgrading
process on the one hand
for carbohydrate-based and on
the other hand for protein-
based raw materials.
With carbohydrate-based raw materials,
starch occupies by far the most important
place. Other polysaccharides such as cel-
lulose and glycogen are especially used in the
production of confectionary and in encapsu-
lating processes.
Making additional products
Grain-based foods are staples throughout
the world.
In the grain year of 2007-08, 2.1 billion
tonnes of grain was harvested around the
globe. The production plants of the food
industry process millions of tonnes of grain
every day. The most important intermediate
product in this connection is flour.
In addition to baking flour, grain process-
ing also produces dark flour and bran, espe-
cially when wheat is processed.
Extrusion technology is one of the
numerous possibilities of further processing
flour as well as the by-products obtained in
grain grinding. It offers especially flour mills
the possibility of increasing the value added
that they generate. The most important
products made by the extrusion process
include breakfast cereals, breakfast flakes,
baby foods, extruded breading
(crumbs), croutons and modified flours and
starches. These are used, for example, as
binders in soups and sauces or in the baking
industry.
Modified and ‘clean
label’ as well
Modified flours are also called swelling
flours. They are applied as binders, fillers, or
freshness extenders in bakery products.
Swelling flours are characterised by
their modified water absorption capac-
ity and their solubility characteristics. It is
possible by suitable selection of the extru-
sion parameters to adjust the viscosity of
flour-and-water suspensions to the needs
of customers or the requirements of a
particular application.
When the correct amount of thermal
and mechanical energy is introduced into
the extruder, end products will be obtained
which are soluble in either cold or hot water
and which possess a certain bandwidth of
viscosities.
The extrusion process is especially suita-
ble for modifying flours because it completely
eliminates the need for using chemicals.
Therefore, modified flour can be excel-
lently applied as an ingredient in products
to which the ‘clean label policy’ applies
(no use of ingredients with e-numbers).
When extruded swelling flours are used,
it is enough to declare wheat flour on the
ingredients list.
The Buhler POLYtwin™ extruder is configurable flexibly and is well suited for
the processing of milling by-products in premium food ingredients.
Alternative to
traditional processes
Another field of application for extrud-
ers is the production of breading (bread
crumbs). Extrusion technology allows bread-
ings to be made on the basis of a wide
variety of raw materials. Whereas the tradi-
tional production method requires the use
of high-protein flours such as wheat or rye
flours for developing the gluten framework,
all starch-containing materials can basically
be applied in the extrusion process. This also
enables the processing of lower-grade wheat
flours or flours made from corn (maize), rice,
or potatoes. Raw material quality fluctuations
are easier to smoothen out in the extru-
sion process. In extrusion, dough leavening
is achieved on the one hand through the
expansion of the dough at the die, but
on the other hand can also be controlled
through chemical or physical raising agents.
Reduction of the energy costs
In addition, the extrusion process also
allows different types of breading flours to
be made (American bread crumbs, Japanese
bread crumbs, cracker meals, etc.) without
requiring any modification of the extrusion
line.
Moreover, it is possible to accurately
adjust the texture, colour, and particle size
of the product. In terms of energy efficiency,
extrusion is a process excellently suited
for producing bread crumbs. Much lower
water contents in
formed into high-grade foods. and the lifelong business relationships
They are extruded into breakfast cereals or are applied in a
we cultivate by continually
modified form as ingredients for other foods. Bran flakes are highly
popular today. And extruded wheat bran may fetch a price that is surpassing expectations.
double that of native wheat bran. Wenger will offer you more
The opportunities for wheat bran as a high-grade food are vast. The knowledge and skill in all
high dietary fibre content of wheat bran gives the product a ‘healthy image’.
aspects of extrusion and drying
Utilisation of lower-price raw materials than anyone, anywhere.
The basis of all the products mentioned up to now, which can
be made by the extrusion process, is grain flour.
Talk to Wenger today, and surround
This is one characteristic that extrusion shares with the conven-
yourself with unrivaled resources for
tional baking processes. The basic difference resides in the dough
texture. The dough framework of conventional baked products is exceeding your processing goals.
based on proteins (gluten or pentosans).
On the other hand, the texture of extruded products is based
on starch. The raw material used for extrusion must have a starch
content of at least five to 10 percent to ensure that the end
product will have a stable texture.
But the protein content can be low, that is, below 10 percent.
Flours with such a low protein content are normally unsuitable for
baking purposes. As the flour price is determined, among other
things, by the protein content, low-protein flours are less expen-
sive than high-protein ones. The extruder therefore also allows
low-price flours to be processed.
Lafe Bailey, Vice President
of Sales and Services
Extrusion
In the extrusion process, a material is forced through a defined
aperture.
In order to ensure that this opening (die hole) is not choked,
the material must be either completely or at least partially liquefied
by subjecting it to the action of pressure and temperature.
But in practice, the extruder fulfils many more functions:
conveying, melting, mixing (dispersion and homogenisation) and
proportioning.
In addition, the material undergoes chemical and physical
modifications during extrusion,
for example starch gelatinisation
or protein texturising. At the more inFormation:
end of the extrusion process, the Christopher Rubin
product is cut to size and thus Product Marketing
shaped by a cutting device. Manager Extrusion Superior Technology.
The raw material and the Buhler Unparalleled Service.
extrusion parameters deter- Uzwil
mine the product characteris- Switzerland
tics such as texture, bulk den- Tel: +41 71 9551317
sity, colour, taste, water solubil- Fax: +41 71 9553388
SABETHA, KANSAS USA 785-284-2133 INFO@WENGER.COM
ity and others of the extruded Email: christopher. WWW.WENGER.COM
rubin@buhlergroup.com
products.
USA BELGIUM TAIWAN BRASIL CHINA TURKEY

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Fatten up your bottom line. Buhler high-performance animal and aqua feed production
systems are used by leading companies around the world. These producers know they
can rely not just on the technology itself, but also on the support that accompanies it.
A service combining local presence with global expertise both lowers feed mill operating
costs and increases capacity utilization. So the question is not whether you can afford to
choose Buhler – it’s how a solution from Buhler will feed your profits. To find out more,
visit www.buhlergroup.com.

Visit us at Victam Asia 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand,

3-5 March 2010, www.victam.com

Bühler AG, Feed & Biomass, CH-9240 Uzwil, Switzerland, T +41 71 955 11 11, F +41 71 955 28 96
fu.buz@buhlergroup.com, www.buhlergroup.com

The solution behind the solution.

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