150. The Value of Cereals in the Dietary.—Cereals are valuable in the dietary because of the starch and protein they supply, and the heat and energy they yield. They are among the most inexpensive of foods and, when properly prepared, have a high degree of palatability; then, too, they are capable of being blended in various ways with other foods. Some are valuable for their mechanical action in digestion, rather than for any large amount of nutrients. They do not furnish the quantity of mineral matter and valuable phosphates that is popularly supposed. They all contain from 0.5 to 1.5 percent of mineral matter, of which about one third is phosphoric anhydrid. In discussing the phosphate content of food, Hammersten states:[59]

"Very little is known in regard to the need of phosphates or phosphoric acid.... The extent of this need is most difficult to determine, as the body shows a strong tendency, when increased amounts of phosphorus are introduced, to retain more than is necessary. The need of phosphates is relatively smaller in adults than in young developing animals."

In the coarser cereals, which include the bran and germ, there is the maximum amount of mineral matter, but, as in the case of graham bread, it is not as completely digested and absorbed by the body as the more finely granulated products which contain less. The kind of cereal to use in the dietary is largely a matter of personal choice. As only a small amount is usually eaten at a meal, there is little difference in the quantity of nutrients supplied by the various breakfast cereals.

TOTAL AND DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS AND FUEL VALUE OF CEREALS [Transcriber's note: This table has been divided into two parts to fit limits on page width.]

======================================================= TOTAL NUTRIENTS -+ + + + + C.H. KIND OF FOOD Water Pro. Fat + + -+Ash N.F. Fiber Ext + -+ + + + -+ + % % % % % % Oat Preparations: Oats, whole grain 11.0 11.8 5.0 59.7 9.5 3.0 Oatmeal, raw 7.3 16.1 7.2 66.6 9.9 1.9 Rolled, steam-cooked 8.2 16.1 7.4 65.2 1.3 1.8 Wheat: Whole grain 10.5 11.9 2.1 71.9 1.8 1.8 Cracked wheat 10.1 11.1 1.7 73.8 1.7 1.6 Rolled, steam-cooked 10.6 10.2 1.8 74.4 1.8 1.5 Shredded wheat 8.1 10.6 1.4 76.6 2.1 1.8 Crumbed and malted 5.6 12.2 1.0 77.6 1.7 1.0 Farina 10.9 11.0 1.4 75.9 0.4 0.4 Rye: Whole grain 11.6 10.6 1.7 72.5 1.7 1.9 Flaked, to be eaten 11.1 10.0 1.4 75.8 1.7 raw Barley: Whole grain 10.9 12.4 1.8 69.8 2.7 2.4 Pearled barley 11.5 8.5 1.1 77.5 0.3 1.1 Buckwheat: Flour 13.6 6.4 1.2 77.5 0.4 0.9 Corn: Whole grain 10.9 10.5 5.4 69.6 2.1 1.5 Corn meal, unbolted 11.6 8.4 4.7 74.0 1.3 Corn meal, bolted 12.5 9.2 1.9 74.4 1.0 1.0 Hominy 10.9 8.6 0.6 79.2 0.4 0.3 Pop corn, popped 4.3 10.7 5.0 77.3 1.4 1.3 Hulled corn 74.1 2.3 0.9 22.2 0.5 Rice: Whole rice, polished 12.3 6.9 0.3 80.0 0.5 Puffed rice 7.1 6.2 0.6 85.7 0.4 Crackers 6.8 10.7 8.8 71.4 0.5 1.8 Macaroni 10.3 13.4 0.9 74.1 1.3 =======================================================

===================================================== DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS + + + + Fuel KIND OF FOOD Pro. Fat C.H. Ash Value per lb. + + + + + % % % % Calories. Oat Preparations: Oats, whole grain Oatmeal, raw 12.5 6.5 65.5 1.4 1767 Rolled, steam-cooked 12.5 6.7 64.5 1.4 1759 Wheat: Whole grain Cracked wheat 8.1 1.5 68.7 1.2 1501 Rolled, steam-cooked 8.5 1.6 70.7 1.1 1541 Shredded wheat 7.7 1.3 71.1 1.4 1521 Crumbed and malted 9.1 0.9 73.7 1.4 1623 Farina 8.9 1.3 72.9 0.5 1609 Rye: Whole grain Flaked, to be eaten 7.8 1.3 71.1 1.3 1516 raw Barley: Whole grain Pearled barley 6.6 1.0 73.0 0.3 1514 Buckwheat: Flour 5.0 1.1 73.1 0.7 1471 Corn: Whole grain Corn meal, unbolted 6.2 4.2 73.2 1.0 1728 Corn meal, bolted 6.8 1.7 74.6 0.8 1602 Hominy 6.4 0.5 78.7 0.2 1671 Pop corn, popped 7.9 4.5 77.8 1.0 1882 Hulled corn 1.7 0.8 21.8 0.4 492 Rice: Whole rice, polished 5.8 0.3 78.4 0.4 1546 Puffed rice 5.1 0.5 84.0 0.3 1639 Crackers 9.1 7.9 70.5 1.4 1905 Macaroni 11.6 0.8 72.2 1.0 1660 =====================================================



CHAPTER X

WHEAT FLOUR

151. Use for Bread Making.—Wheat is particularly adapted to bread-making purposes because of the physical properties of the gliadin, one of its proteids. It is the gliadin which, when wet, binds together the flour particles, enabling the gas generated during bread making to be retained, and the loaf to expand and become porous. Wheat varies in chemical composition between wide limits; it may contain as high as 16 per cent of protein, or as low as 8 per cent; average wheat has from 12 to 14 per cent; and with these differences in composition, the bread-making value varies.



152. Winter and Spring Wheat Flours.—There are two general classes of wheat: spring wheat and winter wheat. The winter varieties are seeded in the fall, and the spring varieties, which are grown mainly in the Northwestern states, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota, and the Canadian Northwest, are seeded in the spring and mature in the late summer. Winter wheat is confined to more southern latitudes and regions of less severe winter, and matures in the early summer. There are many varieties of both spring and winter wheat, although wheats are popularly characterized only as hard or soft, depending upon the physical properties. The winter wheats are, as a rule, more soft and starchy than the spring wheats, which are usually corneous or flinty to different degrees. There is a general tendency for wheats to become either starchy or glutinous, owing to inherited individuality of the seed and to environment. There are often found in the same field wheat plants yielding hard glutinous kernels, and other plants producing starchy kernels containing 5 per cent less proteids. Wheats of low protein content do not make high-grade flour; neither do wheats of the maximum protein content necessarily make the best flour. For a more extended discussion of wheat proteids, the student is referred to Chapter XI.



153. Composition of Wheat and Flour.—In addition to 12 to 14 per cent proteids, wheat contains 72 to 76 per cent of starch and small amounts of other carbohydrates, as sucrose, dextrose, and invert sugar. The ash or mineral matter ranges from 1.7 to 2.3 per cent. There is also about 2 per cent fiber, 2.25 per cent ether extract or crude fat, and about 0.2 per cent organic acids.

Summary:

COMPOSITION OF WHEAT FLOUR

======================================================== Per Cent Water 12.00 {Potash } {Soda } {Lime } Ash {Magnesia } 2.25 {Phosphoric anhydrid} {Sulphuric anhydrid } {Other substances } {Albumin 0.4} {Globulin 0.9} Protein {Gliadin 6.0} 13.00 {Glutenin 5.3} {Other proteids 0.4} Other nitrogenous bodies, as amids, lecethin 0.25 Crude fat, ether extract 2.25 Cellulose 2.25 Starch 66.00 Sucrose, dextrose, soluble carbohydrates, etc. 2.00 =======================================================

154. Roller Process of Flour Milling.—Flours vary in composition, food value, and bread-making qualities with the character of the wheat and the process of milling employed. Prior to 1870 practically all wheat flour was prepared by grinding the wheat between millstones; but with the introduction of the roller process, steel rolls were substituted for millstones.[60] By the former process a smaller amount of flour was secured from the wheat, but with the present improved systems about 75 per cent of the weight of the grain is recovered as merchantable flour and 25 per cent as wheat offals, bran, and shorts[61].



The wheat is first screened and cleaned, then passed on to the corrugated rolls, or the first break, where it is partially flattened and slightly crushed and a small amount of flour, known as the break flour, is separated by means of sieves, while the main portion is conveyed through elevators to the second break, where the kernels are more completely flattened and the granular flour particles are partially separated from the bran. The material passes over several pairs of rolls or breaks, each succeeding pair being set a little nearer together. This is called the gradual reduction process, because the wheat is not made into flour in one operation. More complete removal of the bran and other impurities from the middlings is effected by means of sieves, aspirators, and other devices, and the purified middlings are then passed on to smooth rolls, where the granulation is completed. The flour finally passes through silk bolting cloths, containing upwards of 12,000 meshes per square inch. The dust and fine debris particles are removed at various points in the process. The granulation of the middlings is done after the impurities are removed, the object being first to separate as perfectly as possible the middlings from the branny portions of the kernel. If the wheat were first ground into a fine meal, it would be impossible to secure complete separation of the flour from the offal portions of the kernel.



Flour milling is entirely a mechanical process; the flour stock passes from roll to roll by means of elevators. According to the number of reductions which the middlings and stock undergo, the milling is designated as a long or a short reduction system; the term 4, 6, 8, or 10 break process means that the stock has been subjected to that number of reductions. With an 8-break system of milling, the process is more gradual than with a 4-break, and greater opportunity is afforded for complete removal of the bran. In some large flour mills, the wheat is separated into forty or more different products, or streams, as they are called, so as to secure a better granulation and more complete removal of the offals, after which many of these streams are brought together to form the finished flour. What is known as patent flour is derived from the reduction of the middlings, while the break flours are recovered before the offals are completely removed; hence they are not of so high a grade. No absolute definition can be given, however, of the term "patent flour," as usage varies the meaning in different parts of the country.

155. Grades of Flour.—Flour is the purified, refined, and bolted product obtained by reduction and granulation of wheat during and after the removal of the branny portions of the wheat kernel. It is defined by proclamation of the Secretary of Agriculture, under authority of an act of Congress, as: "Flour is the fine, sound product made by bolting wheat meal, and contains not more than thirteen and one half (13.5) per cent of moisture, not less than one and twenty-five hundredths (1.25) per cent of nitrogen, not more than one (1) per cent of ash, and not more than fifty hundredths (0.50) per cent of fiber."



Generally speaking, flour may be divided into two classes, high grade and low grade. To the first class belong the first and second patents and, according to some authorities, a portion of the straight grade, or standard patent flour, and to the second class belong the second clear and "red dog." About 72 per cent of the cleaned wheat as milled is recovered in the higher grades of flour, and about 2 or 3 per cent as low grades, a large portion of which is sold as animal food. The high grades are characterized by a lighter color, more elastic gluten, better granulation, and a smaller number of debris particles. Although the lower grade flours contain a somewhat higher percentage of protein, they are not as valuable for bread-making purposes because the gluten is not as elastic, and consequently they do not make as good bread. If the impurities from the low grades could be further eliminated, it is believed that less difference would exist between high and low grade flours.

Various trade names are used to designate flours, as a 95 per cent patent, meaning that 95 per cent of the total flour is included in the patent; or an 85 per cent patent, when 85 per cent of all the flour is included in that particular patent. If all the flour streams were purified and blended, and only one grade of flour made, it would be called a 100 per cent patent. An 85 per cent patent is a higher grade flour than a 95 per cent patent.



156. Composition of Flour.—The composition of the different grades of flour made from the same wheat is given in the following table:[62]

COMPOSITION, ACIDITY, AND HEATS OF COMBUSTION OF FLOURS AND OTHER MILLED PRODUCTS OF WHEAT

=========================================================================== WATER PROTEIN FAT CARBO- ASH ACIDITY HEAT OF MILLED PRODUCT (N x 5.7) HY- CALCUL- COMBUSTION DRATES ATED AS PER GRAM LACTIC DETERMINED ACID - % % % % % % Calories First patent flour 10.55 11.08 1.15 76.85 0.37 0.08 4032 Second patent flour 10.49 11.14 1.20 76.75 0.42 0.08 4006 Straight[A] or standard patent 10.54 11.99 1.61 75.36 0.50 0.09 4050 flour First clear grade 10.13 13.74 2.20 73.13 0.80 0.12 4097 flour Second clear grade 10.08 15.03 3.77 69.37 1.75 0.56 4267 flour "Red dog" flour 9.17 18.98 7.00 61.37 3.48 0.59 4485 Shorts 8.73 14.87 6.37 65.47 4.56 0.14 4414 Bran 9.99 14.02 4.39 65.54 6.06 0.23 4198 Entire-wheat flour 10.81 12.26 2.24 73.67 1.02 0.32 4032 Graham flour 8.61 12.65 2.44 74.58 1.72 0.18 4148 Wheat 8.50 12.65 2.36 74.69 1.80 0.18 4140 ===========================================================================

[Footnote A: Straight flour includes the first and second patents and first clear grade.]

In the table it will be noted that there is a gradual increase in protein content from first patent to "red dog," the largest amount being in the "red dog" flour. Although "red dog" contains the most protein, it is by far the poorest flour in bread-making qualities, and in the milling of wheat often it is not separated from the offals, but is sold as an animal food. It will also be seen that there is a gradual increase in the ash content from the highest to the lowest grades of flour, the increase being practically proportional to the grade,—the most ash being in the lowest grade. The grade to which a flour belongs can be determined more accurately from the ash content than from any other constituent. Patent grades of flour rarely contain more than 0.55 per cent of ash,—the better grades less than 0.5 per cent. The more completely the bran and offals are removed during the process of milling, the lower the per cent of ash. The ash content, however, cannot be taken as an absolute guide in all cases, as noticeable variations occur in the amount of mineral matter or ash in different wheats; starchy wheats that have reached full maturity often contain less than hard wheats grown upon rich soil where the growing season has been short, and from such wheats a soft, straight flour may have as low a per cent of ash as a hard first patent flour. When only straight or standard patent flour is manufactured by a mill, all of the flour is included which would otherwise be designated first and second patents and first clear.

157. Graham and Entire Wheat Flours.—When the germ and a portion of the bran are retained in the flour, and the particles are not completely reduced, the product is called "entire wheat flour." The name does not accurately describe the product, as it includes all of the flour and only a portion of the bran, and not the entire wheat kernel. Graham flour is coarsely granulated wheat meal. No sieves or bolting cloths are employed in its manufacture, and many coarse, unpulverized particles are present in the product[62].

158. Composition of Wheat Offals.—Bran and shorts are characterized by a high percentage of fiber, or cellulose. The ash, fat, and protein content of bran are all larger than of flour. The protein, however, is not in the form of gluten, but is largely albumin and globulins,[16] which are mainly in the aleurone layer of the wheat kernel, and are inclosed in branny capsules, and consequently are in a form not readily digested by man.



The germ is generally included in the shorts, although occasionally it is removed for special commercial purposes. It is sometimes sterilized and used in breakfast food products. The germ is rich in oil and is excluded from the flour mainly because it has a tendency to become rancid and to impart to the flour poor keeping qualities. Wheat oil has cathartic properties, and it is believed the physiological action of whole wheat and graham bread is in part due to the oil. The germ is also rich in protein, mainly in the form of globulins and proteoses. A dough cannot be made of pure germ, because it contains so little of the gliadin and glutenin.

159. Aging and Curing of Flour.—Flours well milled and made from high-grade, cleaned wheat generally improve in bread-making value when stored in clean, ventilated warehouses for periods of three to six months[9]. High-grade flour becomes drier and whiter and produces bread of slightly better quality when properly cured by storage. If the flour is in any way unsound, it deteriorates during storage, due to the action of ferment bodies. Wheat also, when properly cleaned and stored, improves in milling and bread-making value. Certain enzymic changes appear to take place which are beneficial. Wheats differ materially from year to year in bread-making value, and those produced in seasons when all the conditions for crop growth are normal do not seem to be so much improved by storing and aging, either of the wheat or the flour, as when the growing season has been unfavorable. When wheat is stored, specific changes occur in both the germ and the cells of the kernel; these changes are akin to the ripening process, and appear to be greater if, for any reason, the wheat has failed to fully mature or is abnormal in composition.

The flour yield of wheat is in general proportional to the weight per bushel of the grain, well-filled, heavy grain producing more flour than light grain.[61] The quality of the flour, however, is not necessarily proportional to the weight of the grain. It is often necessary to blend different grades and types of wheat in order to secure good flour.

160. Macaroni Flour is made from durum wheat, according to Saunders a variety of hard, spring wheat. It is best grown in regions of restricted rainfall. Durum and other varieties of hard spring wheat grown under similar conditions, differ but little in general chemical composition, except that the gluten of durum appears to have a different percentage of gliadin and glutenin, and the flour has a more decided yellow color. Durum wheats are not generally considered as valuable for bread making as other hard wheat. They differ widely in bread-making value, some being very poor, while others produce bread of fair quality.[68]

161. Color.—The highest grades of flour are white in color, or of a slight creamy tinge. Dark-colored, slaty, and gray flours are of inferior quality, indicating a poor grade of wheat, poor milling, or a poor quality of gluten. Flours, after being on the market for a time, bleach a little and improve to a slight degree in color. Color is one of the characteristics by which the commercial value of flour is determined; the whiter the flour, the better the grade, provided other properties are equal[9]. The color, however, should be a pure or cream white. Some flours have what is called a dead white color, and, while not objectionable as far as color is concerned, they are not as valuable for bread-making and general commercial purposes. One of the principal trade requirements of a flour is that it possess a certain degree of whiteness and none of the objectionable shades mentioned.

To determine the color of a flour, it is compared with a standard. If it is a winter wheat flour, one of the best high-grade winter patents to be found on the market is selected, and the sample in question is compared with this; if it is a spring wheat patent flour, one of the best spring wheat patent grades is taken as the standard. In making the comparison, the flours should be placed side by side on a glass plate and smoothed with the flour trier, the comparison being made preferably by a north window. Much experience and practice are necessary in order to determine with accuracy the color value of a flour.

162. Granulation.—The best patent grades of flour contain an appreciable amount of granular middlings, which have a characteristic "feel" similar to fine, sharp sand. A flour which has no granular feeling is not usually considered of the highest grade, but is generally a soft wheat flour of poor gluten. However, a flour should not be too coarsely granulated. The percentage amounts of the different grades of stock in a flour can be approximately determined by means of sieves and different sized bolting cloths. To test a flour, ten grams are placed in a sieve containing a No. 10 bolting cloth; with a camel's-hair brush and proper manipulation, the flour is sieved, and that which passes through is weighed. The percentage amount remaining on the No. 10 cloth is coarser middlings. Nearly all high-grade flours leave no residue on the No. 10 cloth. The sifted flour from the No. 10 cloth is also passed through Nos. 11, 12, 13, and 14 cloths[63]. In this way the approximate granulation of any grade of flour may be determined, and the granulation of an unknown sample be compared with that of a standard flour. In determining the granulation of a flour, if there are any coarse or discolored particles of bran or dust, they should be noted, as it is an indication of poor milling. When the flour is smoothed with a trier, there should be no channels formed on the surface of the flour, due to fibrous impurities caught under the edge of the trier. A hand magnifying glass is useful for detecting the presence of abnormal amounts of dirt or fibrous matter in the flour.

163. Capacity of Flour to absorb Water.—The capacity of a flour to absorb water is determined by adding water from a burette to a weighed amount of flour until a dough of standard consistency is obtained. Low absorption is due to low gluten content. A good flour should absorb from 60 to 65 per cent of its weight of water. In making the test, it is advisable to determine the absorption of a flour of known baking value at the same time that an unknown flour is being tested. Flours of low absorption do not make breads of the best quality; also there are a smaller number of loaves per barrel, and the bread dries out more readily.

164. Physical Properties of Gluten.—The percentages of wet and dry gluten in a flour are determined as outlined in Experiment No. 27. Flours of good character should show at least 30 per cent moist gluten and from 10 to 12 per cent dry gluten. The quality of a flour is not necessarily proportional to its gluten content, although a flour with less than 10-1/2 per cent of dry gluten will not make the best quality of bread, and flours with excessive amounts are sometimes poor bread makers. The color of the gluten is also important; it should be white or creamy. The statements made in regard to color of flour apply also to color of the gluten. A dark, stringy, or putty-like gluten is of little value for bread-making purposes.[64] In making the gluten test, it is advisable to compare the gluten with that from a flour of known bread-making value. Soft wheat flours have a gluten of different character from hard wheat flours.

165. Gluten as a Factor in Bread Making.—The bread-making value of a flour is dependent upon the character of the wheat and the method of milling. It is not necessarily dependent upon the amount of gluten, as the largest volume and best quality of bread are often made from flour of average rather than maximum gluten content. But flours with low gluten do not produce high-grade breads. When a flour contains more than 12 or 13 per cent of proteids, any increase does not necessarily mean added bread-making value. The quality of the gluten, equally with the amount, determines the value for bread-making purposes.

166. Unsoundness.—A flour with more than 14 per cent of moisture is liable to become unsound. High acidity also is an indication of unsoundness or of poor keeping qualities. The odor of a sample of flour should always be carefully noted, for any suggestion of fermentation sufficient to affect the odor renders the flour unsuited for making the best bread. Any abnormal odor in flour is objectionable, as it is due to contamination of some sort, and most frequently to fermentation changes. A musty odor is always an indication of unsoundness. Some flours which have but a slight suggestion of mustiness will, when baked into bread, have it more pronounced; on the other hand, some odors are removed during bread making. Flours may absorb odors because of being stored in contaminated places or being shipped in cars in which oil or other ill-smelling products with strong odors have previously been shipped. Unsoundness is often due to faulty methods in handling, as well as to poor wheat, or to lack of proper cleaning of the wheat or flour.



167. Comparative Baking Tests.—To determine the bread-making value of a flour, comparative baking tests, as outlined in Experiment No. 29, are made; the flour in question is thus compared as to bread-making value with a flour of known baking quality. In making the baking tests, the absorption of the flour, the way in which it responds in the doughing process, and the general properties of the dough, are noted. The details should be carried out with care, the comparison always being made with a similar flour of known baking value, and the bread should be baked at the same time and under the same conditions as the standard. The color of the bread, the size and weight of the loaf, and its texture and odor, are the principal characteristics to be noted.



The quality of flour for bread-making purposes is not strictly dependent upon any one factor, but appears to be the aggregate of a number of desirable characteristics. The commercial grade of a flour can be accurately determined from the color, granulation, absorption, gluten and ash content, and the quality of the bread. Technical flour testing requires much experience and a high degree of skill.

168. Bleaching.—In the process of manufacture, flours are often subjected to air containing traces of nitrogen peroxide gas, generated by electrical action and resulting in the union of the oxygen and nitrogen of the air. This whitens and improves the color of the flour. Bleached flours differ neither in chemical composition nor in nutritive value from unbleached flours, except that bleached flours contain a small amount (about one part to one million parts of flour) of nitrite reacting material, which is removed during the process of bread making. The amount of nitrites produced in flour during bleaching is less than is normally present in the saliva, or is found naturally in many vegetable foods, or in smoked or cured meats, or in bread made from unbleached flour and baked in a gas oven where nitrites are produced from combustion of the gas. The bleaching of flour cannot be regarded as in any way injurious to health or as adulteration, and a bleached flour which has good gluten and bread-making qualities is entirely satisfactory. It is not possible to successfully bleach low-grade flours so they will resemble the high grades, because the bran impurities of the low grades blacken during bleaching and become more prominent. Alway, of the Nebraska Experiment Station, has shown that there is no danger to apprehend from over-bleaching, for when excess of the bleaching reagent is used, flours become yellow in color[65]. Similar results have been obtained at the Minnesota Experiment Station. As bleaching is not injurious to health, and as it is not possible through bleaching to change low grades so as to resemble the patent grades, bleaching resolves itself entirely into the question of what color of flour the consumer desires. Pending the settlement of the status of bleaching the practice has been largely discontinued.



169. Adulteration of Flour.—Flour is not easily adulterated, as the addition of any foreign material interferes with the expansion and bread-making qualities and hence is readily detected. The mixing of other cereals, as corn flour, with wheat flour has been attempted at various times when wheat commanded a high price, but this also is readily detected, by microscopic examination, as the corn starch and wheat starch grains are quite different in mechanical structure. Such flours are required to be labeled, in accord with the congressional act of 1898, when Congress passed, in advance of the general pure food bill, an act regulating the labeling and sale of mixed and adulterated flours. Various statements have been made in regard to the adulteration of flour with minerals, as chalk and barytes, but such adulteration does not appear to be at all general.

170. Nutritive Value of Flour.—From a nutritive point of view, wheat flour and wheat bread have a high value.[66] A larger amount of nutrients can be secured for a given sum of money in the form of flour than of any other food material except corn meal. According to statistics, the average per capita consumption of wheat in the United States is about 4-1/2 bushels, or, approximately, one barrel per year, and from recent investigations it would appear that the amount of flour used in the dietary is on the increase. According to the Bureau of Labor, flour costs the average laborer about one tenth as much as all other foods combined, although he secures from it a proportionally larger amount of nutritive material than from any other food.



CHAPTER XI

BREAD AND BREAD MAKING

171. Leavened and Unleavened Bread.—To make unleavened bread the flour is moistened and worked into a stiff dough, which is then rolled thin, cut into various shapes, and baked, forming a brittle biscuit or cracker.

The process of making raised or leavened bread consists, in brief, of mixing the flour and water in proper proportions for a stiff dough, together with some salt for seasoning, and yeast (or other agent) for leavening. The moistened gluten of the flour forms a viscid, elastic, tenacious mass, which is thoroughly kneaded to distribute the yeast. The dough is then set in a warm place and the yeast begins to grow, or "work," causing alcoholic fermentation, with the production of carbon dioxid gas, which expands the dough, or causes it to "rise," thus rendering it porous. After the yeast has grown sufficiently, the dough is baked in a hot oven, where further fermentation is stopped because of destruction of the yeast by the heat, which also causes the gas to expand the loaf and, in addition, generates steam. The gas and steam inflate the tenacious dough and finally escape into the oven. At the same time the gluten of the dough is hardened by the heat, and the mass remains porous and light, while the outer surface is darkened and formed into a crust.

When the flour is of good quality, the dough well prepared, and the bread properly baked, the loaf has certain definite characteristics. It should be well raised and have a thin, flinty crust, which is not too dark in color nor too tough, but which cracks when broken; the crumb, as the interior of the loaf is called, should be porous, elastic, and of uniform texture, without large holes, and should have good flavor, odor, and color.

Meal or flour from any of the cereals may be used for unleavened bread, but leavened bread can be made only from those that contain gluten, a mixture of vegetable proteids which when moistened with water becomes viscid, and is tenacious enough to confine the gas produced in the dough. Most cereals, as barley, rice, oats, and corn, some of which are very frequently made into forms of unleavened bread, are deficient or wholly lacking in gluten, and hence cannot be used alone for making leavened bread. For the leavened bread, wheat and rye, which contain an abundance of gluten, are best fitted, wheat being in this country by far the more commonly used.

172. Changes during Bread Making.—In bread making complex physical, chemical, and biological changes occur. Each chemical compound of the flour undergoes some change during the process. The most important changes are as follows[64]:

1. Production of carbon dioxid gas, alcohol, and soluble carbohydrates as the result of ferment action.

2. Partial rupturing of the starch grains and formation of a small amount of soluble carbohydrates due to the action of heat.

3. Production of lactic and other organic acids.

4. Formation of volatile carbon compounds, other than alcohol and carbon dioxid.

5. Change in the solubility of the gluten proteins, due to the action of the organic acids and fermentation.

6. Changes in the solubility of the proteids due to the action of heat, as coagulation of the albumin and globulin.

7. Formation and liberation of a small amount of volatile, nitrogenous compounds, as ammonia and amids.

8. Partial oxidation of the fat.

173. Loss of Dry Matter during Bread Making.—As many of the compounds formed during bread making are gases resulting from fermentation action, and as these are volatile at the temperature of baking, appreciable losses necessarily take place. Experiments show about 2 per cent of loss of dry matter under ordinary conditions. These losses are not confined to the carbohydrates alone, but also extend to the proteids and other compounds. When 100 pounds of flour containing 10 per cent of water and 90 per cent of dry matter are made into bread, the bread contains about 88 pounds of dry matter. In exceptional cases, where there has been prolonged fermentation, the losses exceed 2 per cent[64].



174. Action of Yeast.—Yeast is a monocellular plant requiring sugar and other food materials for its nourishment. Under favorable conditions it rapidly increases by budding, and as a result produces the well-known alcoholic fermentation. It requires mineral food, as do plants of a higher order, and oftentimes the fermentation process is checked for want of sufficient soluble mineral food. The yeast plant causes a number of chemical changes to take place, as conversion of starch to a soluble form and alcoholic fermentation.

C_{6}H_{10}O_{5} + H_{2}O = C_{6}H_{12}O_{6}.

C{6}H{12}O{6} = 2 C{2}H{5}OH + 2 CO{2}.

Alcoholic fermentation cannot occur until the starch has been converted into dextrose sugar. The yeast plant is destroyed at a temperature of 131 deg. F. It is most active from 70 deg. to 90 deg. F. At a low temperature it is less active, and when it freezes the cells are ruptured. A number of different kinds of fermentation are associated with the growth of the yeast plant, and there are many varieties of yeast, some of which are more active than others. For bread making an active yeast is desirable to prevent the formation of acid bodies. If the work proceeds quickly, the rising process is completed before the acid fermentation is far advanced. If fermentation is too prolonged, some of the products of the yeast plant impart an undesirable taste and odor to the bread, and hinder the development of the gluten and expansion of the loaf.

175. Compressed Yeast.—The yeast most commonly used in bread making is compressed yeast, a product of distilleries. The yeast floating on the surface of the wort is skimmed off and that remaining is allowed to settle to the bottom, and is obtained by running the wort into shallow tanks or settling trays. It is then washed with cold water, and the impurities are removed either by sieving through silk or wire sieves, or, during the washing, by fractional precipitation. The yeast is then pressed, cut into cakes, and wrapped in tinfoil. When fresh, it is of uniform creamy color, moist, and of a firm, even texture[18]. It should be kept cold, as it readily decomposes.

176. Dry Yeast is made by mixing starch or meal with fresh yeast until a stiff dough is formed. This is then dried, either in the sun or at a moderate temperature, and cut into cakes. By drying, many of the yeast cells are rendered temporarily inactive, and so it is a slower acting leaven than the compressed yeast. A dry yeast will keep indefinitely.

177. Production of Carbon Dioxid Gas and Alcohol.—Carbon dioxid and alcohol are produced in the largest amounts of any of the compounds formed during bread making. When the alcoholic ferments secreted by the yeast plant act upon the invert sugars and produce alcoholic fermentation, carbon dioxid is one of the products formed. Ordinarily about 1 per cent of carbon dioxid gas is generated and lost during bread making. About equal weights of carbon dioxid and alcohol are produced during the fermentation. In baking, the alcohol is vaporized and aids the carbon dioxid in expanding the dough and making the bread porous. If all of the moisture given off during bread making be collected it will be found that from a pound loaf of bread there are about 40 cubic centimeters of liquid; when this is submitted to chemical analysis, small amounts of alcohol are obtained. Alcoholic fermentation sometimes fails to take place readily, because there are not sufficient soluble carbohydrates to undergo inversion, or other food for the yeast plant. Starch cannot be converted directly into alcohol and carbon dioxid gas; it must first be changed into dextrose sugars, and these undergo alcoholic fermentation. Bread gives no appreciable reaction for alcohol even when fresh.[64]



If the gluten is of poor quality, or deficient in either gliadin or glutenin, the dough mass fails to properly expand because the gas is not all retained. The amount of gas formed is dependent upon temperature, rapidity of the ferment action, and quality of the yeast and flour. If the yeast is inactive, other forms of fermentation than the alcoholic may take place and, as a result, the dough does not expand. Poor yeast is a frequent cause of poor bread.

The temperature reached in bread making is not sufficient to destroy all the ferment bodies associated with the yeast, as, for example, bread sometimes becomes soft and stringy, due to fermentation changes after the bread has been baked and stored. Both bread and flour are subject to many bacterial diseases, and one of the objects of thorough cleaning of the wheat and removal of the bran and debris particles during the process of flour manufacture is to completely eliminate all ferment bodies mechanically associated with the exterior of the wheat kernel, which, if retained in the flour, would cause it readily to become unsound.

178. Production of Soluble Carbohydrates.—Flour contains naturally a small amount of soluble carbohydrates, which are readily acted upon by the alcoholic ferments. The yeast plant secretes soluble ferments, which act upon the starch, forming soluble carbohydrates, and the heat during baking brings about similar changes. In fact, soluble carbohydrates are both consumed and produced by ferment action during the bread-making process. Flour contains, on an average, 65 per cent of starch, and during bread making about 10 per cent is changed to soluble forms. Bread, on a dry matter basis, contains approximately 6 per cent of soluble carbohydrates, including dextrine, dextrose, and sucrose sugars.[64]

The physical changes which the starch grains undergo are also noticeable. Wheat starch has the structure shown in illustration No. 33. The starch grains are circular bodies, concave, with slight markings in the form of concentric rings. When the proteid matter of bread is extracted with alcohol and the starch grains are examined, it will, be seen that some of them are partially ruptured, like those in popped corn, while others have been slightly acted upon or eaten away by the organized ferments, the surface of the starch grains being pitted, as shown in the illustration. The joint action of heat and ferments on the starch grains changes them physically so they may more readily undergo digestion. The brown coating or crust formed upon the surface of bread is mainly dextrine, produced by the action of heat on the starch. Dextrine is a soluble carbohydrate, having the same general composition as starch, but differing from it in physical properties and ease of digestion.

179. Production of Acids in Bread Making.—Wheat bread made with yeast gives an acid reaction. The acid is produced from the carbohydrates by ferment action. Flour contains about one tenth of 1 per cent of acid; the dough contains from 0.3 to 0.5 per cent, while the baked bread contains from 0.14 to 0.3 per cent, but after two or three days slightly more acid is developed.[64] During the process of bread making, a small portion of the acid is volatilized, but the larger part enters into chemical combination with the gliadin, forming an acid proteid. When the alcoholic fermentation of bread making becomes less active, acid fermentations begin, and sour dough results. It is not definitely known what specific organic acids are developed in bread making. Lactic and butyric acids are known to be formed, and for purposes of calculation, the total acidity is expressed in terms of lactic acid.

The acidity is determined by weighing 20 grams of flour into a flask, adding 200 cubic centimeters of distilled water, shaking vigorously, and leaving the flour in contact with the water for an hour; 50 cubic centimeters of the filtered solution are then titrated with a tenth normal solution of potassium hydroxid. Phenolphthalein is used as the indicator. It cannot be said that all of the alkali is used for neutralizing the acid, as a portion enters into chemical combination with the proteids. If the method for determining the acid be varied, constant results are not secured. Unsound or musty flours usually show a high per cent of acidity.



180. Volatile Compounds produced during Bread Making.—In addition to carbon dioxid and alcohol, there is lost during bread making a small amount of carbon in other forms, as volatile acids and hydrocarbon products equivalent to about one tenth of one per cent of carbon dioxid. The aroma of freshly baked bread is due to these compounds. Both the odor and flavor of bread are caused in part by the volatile acids and hydrocarbons. The amount and kind of volatile products formed can be somewhat regulated through the fermentation process by the use of special flours and the addition of materials that produce specific fermentation changes and desirable aromatic compounds. Some of the ferment bodies left in flour from the imperfect removal of the dirt adhering to the exterior of the wheat kernels impart characteristic flavors to the bread. The so-called nutty flavor of some bread is due to the action of these ferment bodies and, when intensified, it becomes objectionable. Fungous growths in unsound flour and bread result in the liberation of volatile products, which impart a musty odor. Good odor and flavor are very desirable in both flour and bread.

181. Behavior of Wheat Proteids in Bread Making.—Gluten is an ingredient of the flour on which its bread-making properties largely depend. The important thing, however, is not entirely the quantity of gluten, but more particularly its character. Two flours containing the same amounts of carbohydrates and proteid compounds, when converted into bread by exactly the same process, may produce bread of entirely different physical characteristics because of differences in the nature of the gluten of the two samples. Gluten is composed of two bodies called gliadin and glutenin. The gliadin, a sort of plant gelatin, is the material which binds the flour particles together to form the dough, thus giving it tenacity and adhesiveness; and the glutenin is the material to which the gliadin adheres. If there is an excess of gliadin, the dough is soft and sticky, while if there is a deficiency, it lacks expansive power. Many flours containing a large amount of gluten and total proteid material and possessing a high nutritive value, do not yield bread of the best quality, because of an imperfect blending of the gliadin and glutenin. This question is of much importance in the milling of wheats, especially in the blending of the different types of wheat. An abnormally large amount of gluten does not yield a correspondingly large loaf.



Experiments were made at the Minnesota Experiment Station to determine the relation between the nature of the gluten and the character of the bread. This was done by comparing bread from normal flour with that from other flour of the same lot, but having part or all of its gliadin extracted.[64] Dough made from the latter was not sticky, but felt like putty, and broke in the same way. The yeast caused the mass to expand a little when first placed in the oven; then the loaf broke apart at the top and decreased in size. When baked it was less than half the size of that from the same weight of normal flour, and decidedly inferior in other respects. The removal of part of the gliadin produced nearly the same effect as the extraction of the whole of it, and even when an equal quantity of normal flour was mixed with that from which part of the gliadin had been extracted, the bread was only slightly improved. In flour of the highest bread-making properties the two constituents, gliadin and glutenin, are present in such proportions as to form a well-balanced gluten.

The proteids of wheat flour are mainly in an insoluble form, although there are small amounts of albumins and globulins; these are coagulated by the action of heat during the bread-making process, and rendered insoluble. A portion of the acid that is developed unites with the gliadin and glutenin, forming acid proteids, which change the physical properties of the dough. Both gliadin and glutenin take important parts in bread making. The removal of gliadin from flour causes complete loss of bread-making properties. Ordinarily from 45 to 65 per cent of the total nitrogen of the flour is present in alcohol soluble or gliadin form. Proteids also undergo hydration during mixing, some water being chemically united with them, changing their physical properties. This hydration change is necessary for the full development of the physical properties of the gluten. The water and salt soluble proteids appear to take no important part in the bread-making process, as their removal in no way affects the size of the loaf or general character of the bread. Because of the action of the acids upon the gliadin, bread contains a larger amount of alcohol soluble nitrogen or gliadin than the flour from which the bread was made. It is believed that this action changes the molecular structure of the protein so that it is more readily separated into its component parts when it undergoes digestion and assimilation.

182. Production of Volatile Nitrogenous Compounds.—When fermentation is unnecessarily prolonged, an appreciable amount of nitrogen is volatilized in the form of ammonia and allied bodies, as amids. During the process of bread making, the yeast appears to act upon the protein, as well as upon the carbohydrates, and, as previously stated, losses of dry matter fall alike upon these two classes of compounds, nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous. Analyses of the flours and materials used in bread making, and of the bread, show that ordinarily about 1.5 per cent of the total nitrogen is liberated in the form of gas during the bread-making process, and analyses of the gases dispelled in baking show approximately the same per cent of nitrogen. When bread is dried, as in a drying oven, a small amount of volatile nitrogen appears to be given off,—probably as ammonium compounds formed during fermentation. The nitrogen lost in bread making under ordinary conditions is not sufficient to affect the nutritive value of the product. The losses of both nitrogen and carbon are more than offset by the increased solubility of the proteids and carbohydrates, the preliminary changes they have undergone making them more digestible and valuable for food purposes. The nitrogen volatilized in bread making appears to be mainly that present in the flour in amid forms or liberated as the result of fermentation processes. The more stable proteids undergo only limited changes in solubility and are not volatilized.

183. Oxidation of Fat.—Flour contains about 1.25 per cent of fat mechanically mixed with a small amount of yellow coloring matter. During the process of bread making the fat undergoes slight oxidation, accompanied by changes in both physical and chemical properties. The fat from bread, when no lard or shortening has been added, is darker in color, more viscous, less soluble in ether, and has a lower iodine number, than fat from flour. The change in solubility of the fat is not, however, such as to affect food value, because the fat is not volatilized, and is only changed by the addition of a small amount of oxygen from the air. When wheat fat and other vegetable and animal fats are exposed to the air, they undergo changes known as aging, similar to the slight oxidation changes in bread making.[64]

184. Influence of the Addition of Wheat Starch and Gluten to Flour.—Ten per cent or more of starch may be added to normal flour containing a well-balanced gluten, without decreasing the size of the loaf. When moist gluten was added to flour, thus increasing the total amount of gluten, the size of the loaf was not increased[67].

INFLUENCE OF ADDITION OF STARCH AND GLUTEN TO FLOUR

===================================================================== SIZE OF LOAF WEIGHT - Wheat flour, 14 ounces 22-1/2 x 17-1/2 18.75 Wheat flour, 10% wheat starch 23-1/2 x 17 18.25 Wheat flour, 12.2% wheat starch 21-1/2 x 17 18.00 Wheat flour, 210 grams, about 8 ounces 12-3/4 x 9 12.00 Wheat flour, 10% gluten added, 210 grams 12-1/2 x 9 12.75 Wheat flour, 20% gluten added 12 x 8-3/4 13.00 =====================================================================

So long as the quality of the gluten is not destroyed, the addition of a small amount of either starch or gluten to flour does not affect the size of the loaf, but removal of the gluten affects the moisture content and physical properties of the bread. The addition of starch to flour has the same effect upon the bread as the use of low gluten flour,—lessening the capacity of the flour to absorb water and producing a dryer bread of poorer quality.

185. Composition of Bread.—The composition of bread depends primarily upon that of the flour from which it was made. If milk and butter (or lard) are used in making the dough, as is commonly the case, their nutrients are, of course, added to those of the flour; but when only water and flour are used, the nutrients of the bread are simply those of the flour. In either case the amount of nutrients in the bread is smaller than in the same weight of flour, because a considerable part of the water or milk used in making the dough is present in the bread after baking; that is, a pound of bread contains less of any of the nutrients than a pound of the flour from which the bread was made, because the proportion of water in the bread is greater. The following table shows how the composition of flour compares with that of bread, the different kinds of bread all having been made from the flour with which they are compared:

COMPOSITION OF FLOUR, AND BREAD MADE FROM IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS

===================================================================== MATERIAL WATER PROTEIN FAT C.H. ASH - % % % % % Flour 10.11 12.47 0.86 76.09 0.47 Bread from flour and water 36.12 9.46 0.40 53.70 0.32 Bread from flour, water, and lard 37.70 9.27 1.02 51.70 0.31 Bread from flour and skim milk 36.02 10.57 0.48 52.63 0.30 =====================================================================

Thus it may be seen that the proportion of water is larger and of each nutrient smaller in bread than in flour, and that the nutrients of the flour are increased by those in the materials added in making the bread.

It is apparent that two breads of the same lot of flour may differ, according to the method used in making, and also that two loaves of bread made by exactly the same process but from different lots of flour, even when of the same grade or brand, do not necessarily have the same composition, because of possible variation in the flours. In bread made from flour of low gluten content, the per cent of protein is correspondingly low.

186. Use of Skim Milk and Lard in Bread Making.—When flours low in gluten are used, skim milk may be employed advantageously in making the bread, to increase the protein content. Tests show that such bread contains about 1 per cent more protein than that made with water. Ordinarily there is no gain from a nutritive point of view in adding an excessive amount of lard or other shortening, as it tends to widen the nutritive ratio.

187. Influence of Warm and Cold Flours on Bread Making.—When flour is stored in a cold closet or storeroom, it is not in condition to produce a good quality of bread until it has been warmed to a temperature of about 70 deg. F. Cold flour checks the fermentation process, and is occasionally the cause of poor bread. On the other hand, when flour is too warm (98 deg. F.) the influence upon fermentation is unfavorable. Heating of flour does not affect the bread-making value, provided the flour is not heated above 158 deg. F. and is subsequently cooled to a temperature of 70 deg. F. Wheat flour contains naturally a number of ferment substances, some of which are destroyed by the action of heat. The natural ferments, or enzymes, of flour appear to take a part in bread making, imparting characteristic odors and flavors to the product.



188. Variations in the Process of Bread Making.—Since flours differ so in chemical composition, and the yeast plant acts upon all the compounds of flour, it naturally follows that bread making is not a simple but a complex operation, resulting in a number of intricate chemical reactions, which it is necessary to control and many of which are only imperfectly understood. Bread of the best physical quality and commercial value is made of flour from fully matured, hard wheats, containing a low per cent of acid, no foreign ferment materials or their products, and at least 12-1/2 per cent of proteids, of which the larger portion is in the form of gliadin. It is believed that a better quality of bread could be produced from many flours by slight changes or modifications in the process of bread making. It cannot be expected that the same process will give the best results alike with all types and kinds of flour. The kind of fermentation process that will produce the best bread from a given type of flour can be determined only by experimentation. Poor bread making is due as often to lack of skill on the part of the bread maker, and to poor yeast, as it is to poor quality of flour. Frequently the flour is blamed when the poor bread is due to other factors. Lack of control of the fermentation process, and the consequent development of acid and other organisms which check the activity of the alcoholic ferments, is a frequent cause of poor bread.

189. Digestibility of Bread.—Extensive experiments have been made by the Office of Experiment Stations of the United States Department of Agriculture, at the Minnesota and Maine Experiment Stations, to determine the digestibility and nutritive value of bread. Different kinds and types of wheat were milled so as to secure from each three flours: graham, entire wheat, and standard patent. The flours were made into bread, and the bread fed to workingmen, and its digestibility determined. The experiments taken as a whole show that bread is an exceedingly digestible food, nearly 98 per cent of the starch or carbohydrate nutrients and about 88 per cent of the gluten or proteid constituents being assimilated by the body. In the case of the graham and entire wheat flours, although they contained a larger total amount of protein, the nutrients were not as completely digested and absorbed by the body as were those of the white flour. The body secured a larger amount of nutrients from the white than from the other grades of flour, the digestibility of the three types being as follows: standard patent flour, protein 88.6 per cent and carbohydrates 97.7 per cent; entire wheat flour, protein 82 percent and carbohydrates 93.5 per cent; graham flour, protein 74.9 per cent and carbohydrates 89.2 per cent. The low digestibility of the protein of the graham and entire wheat flours is supposed to be due to the coarser granulation; the proteins, being embedded and surrounded with cellular tissue, escape the action of the digestive fluids. Microscopic examination of the feces showed that often entire starch grains were still inclosed in the woody coverings and consequently had failed to undergo digestion.[62], [64], [67], [86]

190. Use of Graham and Entire Wheat in the Dietary.—Entire wheat and graham flours should be included in the dietary of some persons, as they are often valuable because of their physiological action, the branny particles stimulating the process of digestion and encouraging peristaltic action. In the diet of the overfed, they are valuable for the smaller rather than the larger amount of nutrients they contain. Also they supply bulk and give the digestive tract needed exercise. For the laboring man, where it is necessary to obtain the largest amount of available nutrients, bread from white flour should be supplied; in the dietary of the sedentary, graham and entire wheat flours can, if found beneficial, be made to form an essential part. The kind of bread that it is best to use is largely a matter of personal choice founded upon experience.

"When we pass on to consider the relative nutritive values of white and whole-meal bread, we are on ground that has been the scene of many a controversy. It is often contended that whole-meal is preferable to white bread, because it is richer in proteid and mineral matter, and so makes a better balanced diet. But our examination of the chemical composition of whole-meal bread has shown that as regards proteid at least, this is not always true, and even were it the case, the lesser absorption of whole-meal bread, which we have seen to occur, would tend to annul the advantage.... On the whole, we may fairly regard the vexed question of whole-meal versus white bread as finally settled and settled in favor of the latter."[28]

"The higher percentage of nitrogen in bran than in fine flour has frequently led to the recommendation of the coarser breads as more nutritious than the finer. We have already seen that the more branny portions of the grain also contain a much larger percentage of mineral matter. And, further, it is in the bran that the largest proportion of fatty matter—the non-nitrogenous substance of higher respiratory capacity which the wheat contains—is found. It is, however, we think, very questionable whether upon such data alone a valid opinion can be formed of the comparative values of bread made from the finer or courser flours ground from one and the same grain. Again, it is an indisputable fact that branny particles when admitted into the flour in the degree of imperfect division in which our ordinary milling processes leave them very considerably increase the peristaltic action, and hence the alimentary canal is cleared much more rapidly of its contents. It is also well known that the poorer classes almost invariably prefer the whiter bread, and among some of those who work the hardest and who consequently soonest appreciate a difference in nutritive quality (navvies, for example) it is distinctly stated that their preference for the whiter bread is founded on the fact that the browner passes through them too rapidly; consequently, before their systems have extracted from it as much nutritious matter as it ought to yield them.... In fact, all experience tends to show that the state as well as the chemical composition of our food must be considered; in other words, that the digestibility and aptitude for assimilation are not less important qualities than its ultimate composition.

"But to suppose that whole-wheat meal as ordinarily prepared is, as has generally been assumed, weight for weight more nutritious than ordinary bread flour is an utter fallacy founded on theoretical text-book dicta, not only entirely unsupported by experience, but inconsistent with it. In fact, it is just the poorer fed and the harder working that should have the ordinary flour bread rather than the whole-meal bread as hitherto prepared, and it is the overfed and the sedentary that should have such whole-meal bread. Lastly, if the whole grain were finely ground, it is by no means certain that the percentage of really nutritive nitrogenous matters would be higher than in ordinary bread flour, and it is quite a question whether the excess of earthy phosphates would not then be injurious."—LAWES AND GILBERT.[68]

* * * * *

"According to the chemical analysis of graham, entire wheat, and standard patent flours milled from the same lot of hard Scotch Fife spring wheat, the graham flour contained the highest and the patent flour the lowest percentage of total protein. But according to the results of digestion experiments with these flours the proportions of digestible or available protein and available energy in the patent flour were larger than in either the entire wheat or the graham flour. The lower digestibility of the protein of the latter is due to the fact that in both these flours a considerable portion of this constituent is contained in the coarser particles (bran), and so resists the action of the digestive juices and escapes digestion. Thus while there actually may be more protein in a given amount of graham or entire wheat flour than in the same weight of patent flour from the same wheat, the body obtains less of the protein and energy from the coarse flour than it does from the fine, because, although the including of the bran and germ increases the percentage of protein, it decreases its digestibility. By digestibility is meant the difference between the amounts of the several nutrients consumed and the amount excreted in the feces.

"The digestibility of first and second patent flours was not appreciably different from that of standard patent flour. The degree of digestibility of all these flours is high, due largely to their mechanical condition; that is, to the fact that they are finely ground."—SNYDER.[62]

For a more extended discussion of the subject, the student is referred to Bulletins 67, 101, and 126, Office of Experiment Stations, United States Department of Agriculture.

191. Mineral Content of White Bread.—Average flour contains from 0.4 to 0.5 of 1 per cent of ash or mineral matter, the larger portion being lime and magnesia and phosphate of potassium. It is argued by some that graham and entire wheat flours should be used liberally because of their larger mineral content and their greater richness in phosphates. In a mixed dietary, however, in which bread forms an essential part, there is always an excess of phosphates, and there is nothing to be gained by increasing the amount, as it only requires additional work of the kidneys for its removal. Few experiments have been made to determine the phosphorus requirements of the human body, but these indicate that it is unnecessary to increase the phosphate content of a mixed diet. It is estimated that less than two grams per day of phosphates are required to meet all of the needs of the body, and in an average mixed ration there are present from three to five grams and more. A large portion of the phosphate compounds of white bread is present in organic combinations, as lecithin and nucleated proteids, which are the most available forms, and more valuable for purposes of nutrition than the mineral phosphates. In the case of graham and entire wheat flours, a proportionally smaller amount of the phosphates are digested and assimilated than from the finer grades of flour.

192. Comparative Digestibility of New and Old Bread.—With healthy persons there is no difference whatever in the completeness of digestibility of old and new bread; one appears to be as thoroughly absorbed as the other. In the case of some individuals with impaired digestion there may be a difference in the ease and comfort with which the two kinds of bread are digested, but this is due mainly to individuality and does not apply generally. The change which bread undergoes when it is kept for several days is largely a loss of moisture and development of a small amount of acid and other substances from the continued ferment action.

193. Different Kinds of Bread.—According to variations in method of preparation, there are different types and varieties of bread, as the "flat bread" of Scandinavian countries, unleavened bread, Vienna bread, salt rising bread, etc. Bread made with baking powder differs in no essential way from that made with yeast, except in the presence of the residue from the baking powder, discussed in Chapter XII. Biscuits, wheat cakes, crackers, and other food materials made principally from flour, have practically the same food value as bread. It makes but little difference in what way flour is prepared as food, for in its various forms it has practically the same digestibility and nutritive value.

194. Toast.—When bread is toasted there is no change in the percentage of total nutrients on a dry matter basis. The change is in solubility and form, and not in amount of nutrients available. Some of the starch becomes dextrine, which is more soluble and digestible.[5] Proteids, on the other hand, are rendered less soluble, which appears to slightly lower the digestion coefficient. They are somewhat more readily but not quite so completely digested as those of bread. Digestion experiments show that toast more readily yields to the diastase and other ferments than does wheat bread. Toasting brings about ease of digestion rather than increased completeness of the process. Toast is a sterile food, while bread often contains various ferments which have not been destroyed by baking. These undergo incubation during the process of digestion, particularly in the case of individuals with diseases of the digestive tract. With normal digestion, however, these ferment bodies do not develop to any appreciable extent, as the digestive tract disinfects itself. When the flour is prepared from well cleaned wheat and the ferment substances which are present mainly in the bran particles have been removed, a flour of higher sanitary value is secured.



CHAPTER XII

BAKING POWDERS

195. General Composition.—All baking powders contain at least two materials; one of these has combined carbon dioxid in its composition, the other some acid constituent which serves to liberate the gas. The material from which the gas is obtained is almost invariably sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO_{3}, commonly known as "soda" or "saleratus." Ammonium carbonate has been used to some extent, but is very seldom used at the present time. The acid constituent may be one of several materials, the most common being cream of tartar, tartaric acid, calcium phosphate, or alum. These may be used separately or in combination. The various baking powders are designated according to the acid constituent, as "cream of tartar," "phosphate," and "alum" powders. All of them liberate carbon dioxid gas, but the products left in the food differ widely in nature and amount[69].

Baking powder is a chemical preparation which, when brought in contact with water, liberates carbon dioxid gas. The baking powder is mixed dry with flour, and when this is moistened the carbon dioxid that is liberated expands the dough. The action is similar to that of yeast except that in the case of yeast the gas is given off much more slowly and no residue is left in the bread. When baking powder is used, there is a residue left in the food which varies with the material in the powder. It is the nature and amount of this residue that is important and makes one baking powder more desirable than another.



196. Cream of Tartar Powders.—The acid ingredient of the cream of tartar powders is tartaric acid, H{2}C{4}H{4}O{6}. Cream of tartar is potassium acid tartrate, KHC{4}H{4}O{6}; it contains one atom of replaceable hydrogen, which imparts the acid properties, and it is prepared from crude argol, a deposit of grape juice when wine is made. The residue from this powder is sodium potassium tartrate, NaKC{4}H{4}O{6}, commonly known as Rochelle salt. This is the active ingredient of Seidlitz powders and has a purgative effect when taken into the body. The dose as a purgative is from one half to one ounce. A loaf of bread as ordinarily made with cream of tartar powder contains about 160 grains of Rochelle salt, which is 45 grains more than is found in a Seidlitz powder, but the amount actually eaten at any one time is small and its physiological effect can probably be disregarded. When a cream of tartar baking powder is used, the reaction takes place according to the following equation:

188 84 210 44 18 HKH_{4}C_{4}O_{6} + NaHCO_{3} = KNaC_{4}H_{4}O_{6} + CO_{2} + H_{2}O.

The crystallized Rochelle salt contains four molecules of water, so that, even allowing for some starch filler, there is very nearly as much weight of material (Rochelle salt) left in the food as there was of the original powder. If free tartaric acid were used instead of potassium acid tartrate, the reaction would be as follows:

150 168 230 88 H{2}C{4}H{4}O{6} + 2NaHCO{3} = Na{2}C{2}H{4}O{6}.2 H{2}O + 2CO{2}.

But the residue, sodium tartrate, is less in proportion. It has physiological properties very similar to Rochelle salt. Tartaric acid is seldom used alone, but very often in combination with cream of tartar. It is more expensive than cream of tartar; but not so much is required, and it is more rapid in action.

197. Phosphate Baking Powders.—Here the acid ingredient is phosphoric acid and the compound usually employed is mono-calcium phosphate, CaH_{4}(PO-{4})_{2}. This is made by the action of sulphuric acid on ground bone (Ca_{3}(PO_{4})_{2} + 2 H_{2}SO_{4} = CaH_{4}(PO_{4})_{2} + 2 CaSO_{4}), and it is difficult to free it from the calcium phosphate formed at the same time; hence such powders contain more or less of this inert material. The reaction which occurs with a phosphate powder is as follows:

234 168 136 CaH_{4}(PO_{4})_{2} + 2 NaHCO_{3} = CaHPO_{4}

88 36 142 + 2 CO{2} + 2 H{2}O + Na{2}HPO{4}.

Sodium phosphate, according to the United States Dispensatory, is "mildly purgative in doses of from 1 to 2 ounces." The claim is made by the makers of phosphate baking powders that the phosphates of sodium and calcium, products left after the baking, restore the phosphates which have been lost from the flour in the bran. This baking powder residue does not restore the phosphates in the same form in which they are present in grains and it does furnish them in larger amounts—nearly tenfold. However, the residue from these powders is probably less objectionable than that from alum powders. The chief drawback to the phosphate powders is their poor keeping qualities.

198. Alum Baking Powders.—Sulphuric acid is the acid constituent of these powders. The alums are double sulphates of aluminium and an alkali metal, and have the general formula _x_Al(SO_{4})_{2} in which _x_ may be K, Na, or NH_{4}, producing respectively a potash, soda, or ammonia alum. Potash alum is most commonly used, soda and ammonia alums to a less extent. The reaction takes place as follows:

475 504 157 2 NH{4}Al(SO{4}){2} + 6 NaHCO{3} = Al{2}(OH){6}

426 132 264 + 3 Na{2}SO{4} + (NH{4}){2}SO{4} + 6 CO{2}.

If it is a potash or soda alum, simply substitute K or Na for NH_{4} throughout the equation. The best authorities regard alum baking powders as the most objectionable. Ammonia alum is without doubt the worst form, since all of the ammonium compounds have an extremely irritating effect on animal tissue. Sulphates of sodium and potassium are also objectionable. Aluminium hydroxide is soluble in the slightly acid gastric juice and has an astringent action on animal tissue, hindering digestion in a way similar to the alum itself. Many of the alum powders contain also mono-calcium phosphate; the reaction is as follows:

475 234 336 2 NH_{4}Al(SO_{4})_{2} + CaH_{4}(PO_{4})_{2} + 4 NaHCO_{3}

245 136 132 = Al_{2}(PO_{4})_{2} + CaSO_{4} + (NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4}

284 176 72 + 2 Na{2}SO{4} + 4 CO{2} + 4 H{2}O.

These are probably less injurious than the straight alum powders, although the residues are, in general, open to the same objection.

199. Inspection of Baking Powders.—Many of the states have enacted laws seeking to regulate the sale of alum baking powders. Some of these laws simply require the packages to bear a label setting forth the fact that alum is one of the ingredients; others require the baking powder packages to bear a label naming all the ingredients of the powder.

200. Fillers.—All baking powders contain a filler of starch. This is necessary to keep the materials from acting before the powder is used. The amount of filler varies from 15 to 50 per cent; the least is found in the tartrate powders and the most in the phosphate powders. The amount of gas which a powder gives off regulates its value; it should give off at least 1/8 of its weight.

201. Home-made Baking Powders.—Baking powders can be made at home for about one half what they usually cost and they will give equal satisfaction. The following will make a long-keeping powder: cream of tartar, 8 ounces; baking soda, 4 ounces; corn starch, 3 ounces. For a quick-acting powder use but one ounce of starch. The materials should be thoroughly dry. Mix the soda and starch first by shaking well in a glass or tin can. Add the cream of tartar last and shake again. Thorough mixing is essential to good results. Cream of tartar is often adulterated, but it can be obtained pure from a reliable druggist. To insure baking powders remaining perfectly dry, they should always be kept in glass or tin cans, never in paper.



CHAPTER XIII

VINEGAR, SPICES, AND CONDIMENTS

202. Vinegar.—Vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid produced by fermentation, and contains, in addition to acetic acid, small amounts of other materials in solution, as mineral matter and malic acid, according to the material from which the vinegar was made. Unless otherwise designated, vinegar in this country is generally considered to be made from apples. Other substances, however, are used, as vinegar can be manufactured from a variety of fermentable materials, as molasses, glucose, malt, wine, and alcoholic beverages in general. The chemical changes which take place in the production of vinegars are: (1) inversion of the sugar, (2) conversion of the invert sugars into alcohol, and (3) change of alcohol into acetic acid. All these chemical changes are the result of ferment action. The various invert ferments change the sugar into dextrose and glucose sugars; then the alcoholic ferment produces alcohol and carbon dioxid from the invert sugars, and finally the acetic acid ferment completes the work by converting the alcohol into acetic acid. The chemical changes which take place in these different steps are:

sucrose dextrose levulose (1) C{12}H{22}O{11} + H{2}O = C{6}H{12}O{6} + C{6}H{12}O{6};

dextrose alcohol (2) C{6}H{12}O{6} = 2 C{2}H{5}OH + 2 CO{2};

alcohol acid (3) C{2}H{5}OH + 2 O = HC{2}H{3}O{2} + H{2}O.



The acetic acid organism, Mycoderma aceti, can work only in the presence of oxygen. It is one of the aerobic ferments, and is present in what is known as the "mother" of vinegar and is secreted by it. When vinegar is made in quantity, the process is hastened by allowing the alcoholic solution to pass through a narrow tank rilled with shavings containing some of the ferment material, and at the same time air is admitted so as to secure a good supply of oxygen. When vinegar is made by allowing cider or wine to stand in a warm place until the fermentation process is completed, a long time is required—the length of time depending upon the supply of air and other conditions affecting fermentation.

In some countries malt vinegar is common. This is produced by allowing a wort made from malt and barley to undergo acetic acid fermentation, without first distilling the alcohol as is done in the preparation of spirit vinegar. In various European countries wine vinegar is in general use and is made by acetification of the juice of grapes. Sometimes spirit vinegar is made from corn or barley malt. Alcoholic fermentation takes place, the alcohol is distilled so that a weak solution remains, which is acetified in the ordinary way. Such a vinegar can be produced very cheaply and is much inferior in flavor to genuine wine or cider vinegar.

Vinegar, when properly made, should remain clear, and should not form a heavy deposit or produce any large amount of the fungous growth, commonly called the "mother" of vinegar. In order to prevent the vinegar from becoming cloudy and forming deposits, it should be strained and stored in clean jugs and protected from the air. So long as air is excluded further acetic acid fermentation and production of "mother" of vinegar cannot take place. When the vinegar is properly made and the fermentation process has been completed, the acid already produced prevents all further development of acetic acid ferments. When vinegar becomes cloudy and produces deposits, it is an indication that the acetic fermentation has not been completed.

The national standard for pure apple cider vinegar calls for not less than 4 grams acetic acid, 1.6 grams of apple solids, and 0.25 grams of apple ash per 100 cubic centimeters, along with other characteristics, as acidity, sugar, and phosphoric acid content. Many states have special laws regarding the sale of vinegar.

203. Adulteration of Vinegar.—Vinegar is frequently adulterated by the addition of water, or by coloring spirit vinegar, thus causing it to resemble cider vinegar. Formerly vinegar was occasionally adulterated by the use of mineral acids, as hydrochloric or sulphuric, but since acetic acid can be produced so cheaply, this form of adulteration has almost entirely disappeared. Colored spirit vinegar contains merely a trace of solid matter and can be readily distinguished from cider vinegar by evaporating a small weighed quantity to dryness and determining the weight of the solids. Occasionally, however, glucose and other materials are added so as to give some solids to the spirit vinegar, but such a vinegar contains only a trace of ash[18]. Attempts have also been made to carry the adulteration still further by adding lime and soda to give the colored spirit vinegar the necessary amount of ash. Malt, white wine, glucose, and molasses vinegars when properly manufactured and unadulterated are not objectionable, but too frequently they are made to resemble and sell as cider vinegar. This is a fraud which affects the pocketbook rather than the health. For home use apple cider vinegar is highly desirable. There is no food material or food adjunct, unless possibly ground coffee and spices, so extensively adulterated as vinegar.

Vinegar has no food value whatever, and is valuable only for giving flavor and palatability to other foods, and to some extent for the preservation of foods. It is useful in the household in other ways, as it furnishes a dilute acid solution of aid in some cooking and baking operations for liberating gas from soda, and also when a dilute acid solution is required for various cleaning purposes.

Vinegar should never be kept in tin pails, or any metallic vessel, because the acetic acid readily dissolves copper, tin, iron, and the ordinary metals, producing poisonous solutions. Earthenware jugs, porcelain dishes, glassware, or wooden casks are all serviceable for storing vinegar.

204. Characteristics of Spices.[70]—Spices are aromatic vegetable substances characterized as a class by containing some essential or volatile oil which gives taste and individuality to the material. They are used for the flavoring of food and are composed of mineral matter and the various nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous compounds found in all plant bodies. Since only a comparatively small amount of a spice is used for flavoring purposes, no appreciable nutrients are added to the food. Some of the spices have characteristic medicinal properties. Occasionally they are used to such an extent as to mask the natural flavors of foods, and to conceal poor cooking and preparation or poor quality. For the microscopic study of spices the student is referred to Winton, "Microscopy of Vegetable Foods," and Leach, "Food Inspection and Analysis."

205. Pepper.—Black and white pepper are the fruit of the pepper plant (Piper nigrum), a climbing perennial shrub which grows in the East and West Indies, the greatest production being in Sumatra. For the black pepper, the berry is picked before thoroughly ripe; for the white pepper, it is allowed to mature. White pepper has the black pericarp or hull removed. Pepper owes its properties to an alkaloid, piperine, and to a volatile oil. In the black pepper berries there is present ash to the extent of about 4.5 per cent, it ought not to be above 6.5 per cent; ether extract, including piperine and resin, not less than 6.5 per cent; crude fiber not more than 16 per cent; also some starch and nitrogenous material. The white pepper contains less ash and cellulose than the black pepper. Ground pepper is frequently grossly adulterated; common adulterants being: cracker crumbs, roasted nut shells and fruit stones, charcoal, corn meal, pepper hulls, mustard hulls, and buckwheat middlings. The pepper berries wrinkle in drying, and this makes it difficult to remove the sand which may have adhered to them. An excessive amount of sand in the ash should be classed as adulteration. Adulterants in pepper are detected mainly by the use of the microscope. The United States standard for pepper is: not more than 7 per cent total ash, 15 per cent fiber, and not less than 25 per cent starch and 6 per cent non-volatile ether extract.[71]