THE GRAIN quality team at Grains Innovation Park get a huge perk in their workday with the constant aroma of freshly baking bread.
But the baking is not just to have something to snack on at smoko.
Instead, state of the art equipment is mapping all the key qualities of the flour made using various varieties and its suitability for baking.
Cassandra Walker, Agriculture Victoria, said the performance of a flour varied markedly from variety to variety.
“If you have not got enough protein you struggle to get that nice, airy crumb in bread,” Dr Walker said during an open day of the facility to mark Grains Innovation Park’s 50th birthday.
Measurements are made on how much loaf space has been taken up by a particular flour blend to see whether it is optimum for the baking industry.
Getting a variety with good baking quality is critical for the breeding industry in terms of winning market share amongst millers.
“The gluten is really important, it allows the elasticity and then when we add the yeast the fermentation creates little air bubbles which make for a lighter loaf,” Dr Walker said.
It is not just pure wheat flour being tested in the laboratory.
Drew Portman is a Charles Sturt University PhD student working with blends of pulses in wheat flour products.
He has worked using pure lentil flour as a means of raising protein levels in bread and has also used milled lentil hulls with the high fibre seat coat to boost bread fibre levels.
“It is a way of getting a lot of healthy products into bread that are not present in wheat flour,” he said.