Falling Number

Falling NumberStart Of Presentation

Muhammad RaheelBS 3rd Year 2015 (Morning Program)Department of Food Science & TechnologyUniversity of KarachiPakistanPrepared By

Also referred to as the Hagbergs Number.Measures the level of alpha-amylase activity that has occurred within a grain sample.Alpha-amylase ???It is an enzyme that degrades starch within the seed greatly reducing flour quality.Introduction

1960 Sven Hagberg developed a rapid, original method for determining alpha-amylase activity in sprout damaged grain.1961 Sven Hagberg named the method Falling number with a simple modification.1962 Harald Perten founded Perten Instruments and commercialized falling number apparatus.1968 International Association of Cereal Science and Technology approved the method as ICC Standard No. 107/11972 The method was implemented as an official AACC method 56-81B.1982 The International Organization for Standardization approved the method as ISO 3093.History

Working Principle

Sample PreparationWeighingDispensingShakingStirringMeasuringThe Falling NumberMajor Steps

How is FN calculated?Falling Number= (5sec stand) + (55 sec stirring )+ (time taken to fall in sec) Example: 5 + 55 + 240 = 300FN

When tubes are in water bath, starch begins to gelatinize and the slurry becomes viscous.The alpha-amylase enzyme starts to breakdown starch and the viscosity thus decreases.The amount of starch break down dependent on alpha-amylase activity which means the higher the activity of amylase the lower is the viscosity.The more sprouted the grain, the higher the alpha-amylase activity.The higher the alpha-amylase activity, the lower the viscosity of slurry.The lower the viscosity of slurry the faster the stirrer will fall.More sprouted grain results in low FN, as FN is the time it takes the stirrer to fall to the bottom.Chemistry behind FN

Why measure the alpha-amylase activity??Rainy, adverse weather conditions during harvest can cause sprouting. When sprouting occurs the alpha-amylase enzyme develops. Alpha-amylase activity has direct impact on bread, pasta quality and adversely affects the malting process. As little as 5% sprouted grain mixed with 95% sound grain can render the entire mixture unacceptable.

Applications

Falling Number in Pasta and Noodle manufacturing

Producing noodles from flour with a low falling number is difficult with dough handling and cutting problems and product sticking to machinery. It also result in an off-color end consumer product which will be sticky after it is boiled. Using flour with the correct FN will result in saving through improved processing as well as a higher quality end product.Continue

Falling Number in flour milling and baking

A certain amount of alpha-amylase is necessary for proper baking to occur. The alpha-amylase breaks down starch to provide sugar to help fuel the fermentation process. The presence of enzyme depend upon the quality of bread produced.FN=250; When the alpha-amylase activity is right, a high volume bread with firm and soft texture is achieved.FN=62; If the activity is too high, a sticky bread crumb and low volume may result.FN=400; If the activity is too low, a dry bread crumb with diminished volume may result.The FN value has an inverse relationship with the alpha-amylase activity meaning the higher the amylase activity the lower the FN value.Continue

Temperature of water bath should be 100CThe FN instrument analyses viscosity by measuring the resistance of a flour-and-water paste to a falling stirrer.FN result are recorded as an index of enzyme of enzyme activity in a wheat or flour sample and the result are expressed in time as seconds.A high FN (above 300 sec) indicates minimal enzyme activity and sound quality wheat or flour.A low FN (below 250 sec) indicates substantial enzyme activity and sprout damaged wheat or flour.When grinding a wheat sample to perform a FN test, it should be at-least 300gm to assure a representative sample.Values below 300 sec are indicative of poor quality for milling and baking purposes. Need to know!

Machine develop by a North American Company;

Related to Instrument

Model= FN 1500 Model=FN 1310Instrument Models

Model= FN 1000 Model= FN 1700/1900Continue

Dispenser Lab MillsAccessories Used

Late maturity a-amylase: Low falling number in wheat in the absence of pre-harvest sprouting. (Australia, 30 Jan 2007)Key points;Late maturity and pre-harvest a-amylase.Effect on a-amylase activity in wheat grain.Effect of temperature on wheat grain.Effect on end-product.

Research

www.living-foods.com/articles/sprouting.htmlwww.wheatflourbook.org/main.aspx?p=67www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newletter-archive/cses/2007/falling_number.htmlwww.perten.com>Productshttp://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/36070500/InfoDianehasuploaded/2010ResearchReviewAnnualReport/MKweon-FN-012810.pdfwww.elsevier.com/locate/jcs1-s2.0-S0733521007000276-main

References

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