Flour is one of the most important food ingredient and is a major diet for many around the world. From bread to biscuits, to cakes, to noodles, flour based products are enjoyed in many flavors. Flour is milled from wheat and the milling process yields many flour types and therefore flour quality is often associated with color. Whiteness is one test made by millers to get the best yields out of the milling process.
The Chinese bun calls for a clean white flour, a typical Asian noodle is intense or pale yellow depending on the locality. Each region has their preference of colors thus flour color analysis is important. An off shade color can send sales plummeting hence manufacturers ensure their products colors are consistent. Companies invest in resources to get the right color.
In wheat testing, durum semolina color are expressed in CIE (1976) color space with L* for lightness, a* for red – green and b* for yellow – blue and are reported in D65 lighting condition. Konica Minolta chroma meter is an easy to use color instrument to report the color space and many leading millers are using it for flour color analysis. From wheat research centers to millers, the chroma meter serves as a tool in the evaluation of flour quality.
To learn more about flour color analysis, check out this Wheat Marketing Center, Inc. guide – Wheat and Flour Testing Methods: A Guide to Understanding Wheat and Flour Quality Version 2.