Composite Enzymes for Wheat Starch Production and Processing

Wheat starch production and its deep processing face unique challenges due to the inherent composition of wheat flour. The introduction of composite enzymes has revolutionized this process, improving efficiency, product quality, and sustainability.

Production of Wheat Starch

Wheat flour comprises starch, proteins, and non-starch polysaccharides. The production of wheat starch involves separating these components using modern processing equipment and the assistance of enzymes. The goal is to obtain high-purity wheat starch, wheat gluten (wheat protein powder), and other by-products.

Challenges in Wheat Starch Production

The main components of wheat flour—starch, proteins, and non-starch polysaccharides—are interconnected. Compared to other grains like corn and rice, wheat has a higher protein and water-soluble non-starch polysaccharide content. This results in high viscosity when wheat flour is mixed with water, making it difficult to separate proteins and starch, posing significant challenges to the production process.

How Enzymes Assist in Wheat Starch Production

The addition of enzymes can hydrolyze non-starch polysaccharides in the slurry, rapidly breaking down the network formed by these polysaccharides. This reduces the viscosity of the paste, improving system fluidity, increasing processing capacity, and enhancing the purity of starch and gluten products.

Composite enzyme for wheat starch production:

The reduction in paste viscosity by enzymes can be measured using a viscometer. The latest composite enzymes from Sunson (SW-04H) can reduce system viscosity by 74%, significantly outperforming the first-generation products (Table1)

Table1: Reduction of wheat paste by new Composite Enzyme SW-04H.

B-starch, a by-product of wheat starch production, is primarily used for alcohol production. The unique composition of wheat indicates that B-starch slurry contains a significant amount of non-starch polysaccharides, putting pressure on the downstream alcohol production system. Sunson’s WH-02L composite enzyme is specially developed to address the difficulty in dewatering distiller's grains during alcohol production. It significantly reduces the moisture content of the filter cake, enhancing system processing capacity and providing optimal pre-dewatering before thermal drying, thus reducing energy consumption (Table2).

Table2: Dewatering of distiller’s grains with and without enzymes Test No. Enzyme Scheme Enzyme Dosage Filter Cake Wet Weight (g) Filter Cake Moisture Moisture Reduction 1 Control (No Enzyme) 0 52 79% 0 2 Composite Enzyme (WH-02L) 1‰ 25.2 56% 23%↓ table2: Dewatering of distiller%E2%80%99s grains with and without enzymesTest No.Enzyme SchemeEnzyme DosageFilter Cake Wet Weight (g)Filter Cake MoistureMoisture Reduction1Control (No Enzyme)05279%02Composite Enzyme (WH-02L)1%E2%80%B025.256%23%%E2%86%93

Table2: Dewatering of distiller’s grains with and without enzymes

The use of enzymes in wheat starch production and deep processing makes the process more efficient and energy-saving, improving product quality and offering a green and sustainable biological solution for the industry.