By NPD manager, Gavin Mulligan
Benefits of high fibre flours
“High fibre foods help prevent heart disease, diabetes and weight gain. The good news is that many of the ingredients that help you to produce these foods - whether flours, flakes, kibbles or seed mixes - are also good sources of calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and B vitamins.”
How the choice of wheat and blends of wheats in a flour can increase fibre content
“Typical fibre content for standard bread flour is a relatively low 3.3g per 100g. That means a slice or two of ordinary white bread doesn’t make much of a contribution to the recommended daily 30g of fibre.
“The good news is that there are numerous specialist flours that can increase the proportion of fibre – at the same time as enhancing flavour, texture, colour and nutritional value.
“The wholegrain flours produced at EDME don’t extract the white endosperm from the grain, which helps ensure their high level of fibre, compared with standard white bread flour.
“Malted wheat flour, for example, contains 9.5g of fibre per 100g. It is also a great source of vitamins including C and B6, and minerals such as iron and riboflavin.
“Since you need a relatively small inclusion of malted flour to improve colour and flavour of products, there’s an impetus to explore and introduce other high fibre ingredients. These range from pulse flours and seed mixes to flakes and kibbles.
“Whole barley flour contains 83% more fibre than standard white bread flour. We can advise on inclusions – in order to create superb baked products.”
Use of alternative flours
“EDME has a dedicated mill for fine gluten-free flours – which can be created to as low as 5ppm (parts per million). The flours produced in the facility include quinoa, buckwheat, chia, teff, maize, gram (chickpea), fava (broad bean) and split pea. They all offer something different in terms of nutritional value, with most being much higher in protein and fibre than standard bread flours.
“Chia flour, for example, contains more than 30g of fibre per 100g. This means that relatively low inclusions can help to create products with 6g of fibre per 100g of product. That is the minimum required in order to make a “High Fibre” claim on packaging.
“We can give advice on recipes aiming to make high fibre claims – or you can experiment yourself with the myriad of excellent functional ingredients.
“Some of the flours, such as chickpea and fava, have strong flavour notes. They are fine to use in small quantities alongside other wholegrain ingredients to boost fibre and protein without changing familiar and well-loved flavour profiles. Applications including breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes, pie crusts and waffles.
“Or you can use them in larger quantities for specialist and ethnic products where the nutty, beany notes complement and enhance flavours that used to be seen as challenging - but are rapidly becoming mainstream.”
