Abstract:
Among cereals grains, wheat has high potential to produce gluten protein that imparts strength and elasticity
to the dough that influences the texture of bakery products. Storage temperature has been shown to affect the
quality attributes of wheat flour but only a few research studies were conducted to assess the influence of storage
conditions on wheat flour properties. Therefore, a study was carried out to evaluate the influence of storage
temperature on the quality characteristics of the wheat flour during short term storage. The freshly milled
wheat flour from Prima Ceylon Private Ltd, Trincomalee were stored for 8 weeks at room temperature (35oC
and the Relative Humidity of 50-60%) and air conditioned temperature (27oC and the Relative Humidity of
60-70%). The quality characteristics such as moisture, wet gluten, gluten index and ash content and biological
characteristics of weevils count and total bacterial count of flour samples were evaluated at 2 weeks interval during
the storage period. Moisture content decreased significantly (p<0.05 ) with the storage duration at both storage
temperatures. Visco-elastic properties such as wet gluten and gluten index of flour samples decreased during
storage and more markedly affecting the flour quality at room temperature storage. Biological and microbiological
characteristics were influenced by storage temperature since the water activity was the main factor influencing
their survival. Based on the study, the quality characteristics of wheat flour were better preserved during storage
at air conditioned temperature of 27oC with 60-70% Relative Humidity compared to room temperature of 35oC
with 50-60% Relative Humidity.
