Ultrafine grinding of wheat flour: Effect of flour/starch granule profiles and particle size distribution on falling number and pasting properties

In the present paper, the properties of different ultrafine flour samples, including particle size distribution, damaged starch content, falling number, and pasting properties, were examined. The results indicated that the particle size decreased significantly after jet milling, as the rotation speed and grinding time increased, and the damaged starch content significantly increased as the size of the flour/starch decreased; this is in contrast to the significant decrease in falling number. Significant differences in pasting temperature were observed between straight‐grade flour (68.6°C) and five ultrafine flour samples (from 86.3 to 87.9°C). We also observed significant increases in peak viscosity, trough, breakdown viscosity, final viscosity, and setback as the flour particle size decreased from 43.07 µm to 25.81 µm (D(50)). The same parameters significantly decreased as the flour particle size decreased from 25.81 µm to 10.15 µm (D(50)). Correlation analysis identified a significant negative correlation between flour particle size (D(50)) and damaged starch content and pasting temperature, while a significant positive correlation was found with the falling number values. The results of this work may have an important impact on the quality of processed foods.