Tempering and milling of edible grains and leguminous materials

Abstract From the Canadian patent

The invention relates to improvements in flour and pasta, produced therefrom, wherein the flour is produced by milling of grains and legumes previously tempered in the presence of a reducing agent. The reducing agent can be for example, sodium, metabisulfite, organic acids SO2, cysteine, thioglycolic acid, glutathione or hydrogen sulfide. The presence of the reducing agent in the tempering solution produces an improvement in color retention of the resulting flour, and allows the shorts to separate from the semolina to be remilled to produce flour of color and quality acceptable for use in pasta production.