Whole-wheat Flour and its Products: Nutritional Compositions, Health Benefits and Quality Improvement

Abstract

The development of grain milling techniques promotes the progress of fine grain processing. However, long-term intake of refined flour products induces nutritional imbalance the incidence rate of hypertension, diabetes, and increasing cardiovascular diseases by years. Whole-wheat flour includes all compounds in wheat kernels, being rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These substances have the function of lowering hypertension, oxidation resistance, radicals scavenging, and immunity strengthening. Therefore, whole-wheat food, made from whole-wheat flour, is an ideal choice in modifying dietary pattern and improving health condition of people. This review compared the differences in the nutritional compositions between whole-wheat flour and refined flour, summarized the specific nutrients such as dietary fiber, polyphenols, unsaturated fatty acid, phytosterol, and lignans in whole-wheat flour, reviewed their health benefits from the perspectives of weight loss, preventing type-2 diabetes, and intervening cardiovascular, and introduced the quality improvement techniques of whole-wheat baked, steamed, and fried products. The review is expected to provide important reference for the development and expansion of whole - wheat products.

Keywords

• whole-wheat
• wheat bran
• products
• nutritional compositions
• health benefits
• quality improvement