Cereal Grains : Laboratory Reference and Procedures Manual

Facilitating the acquisition of practical knowledge and providing innovative ideas for further developments, this laboratory manual demonstrates the application of quality control measurements for grains, milled products, starches, and the wide array of finished products. Each section of the book contains a set of references so students may expand their knowledge, as well as questions to evaluate comprehension of the covered material. It includes a glossary of practical terms and a section of Imperial-to-metric measurement conversions pertaining to weight, volume, density, and other equivalences.

Emphasizing the essential principles underlying the preparation of cereal-based products and demonstrating the roles of ingredients, Cereal Grains: Laboratory Reference and Procedures Manual is a practical laboratory manual complementing the author’s text, Cereal Grains: Properties, Processing, and Nutritional Attributes. Organized so that readers progressively learn and apply the theoretical knowledge described in the parent book, the manual covers a range of essential topics, including:

• Main quality control measurements used to determine physical, morphological, chemical-nutritional, and sensory properties of cereal grains and their products
• Critical factors affecting grain stability throughout storage and analytical techniques related to insects and pests responsible for grain storage losses
• Physical and chemical tests to determine the quality of refined products
• Laboratory wet-milling procedures
• The most common laboratory methods to assess nixtamal, masa, and tortilla quality and shelf-life
• Yeast and chemical leavening agents important for bakery and other fermented products
• Laboratory and pilot plant procedures for the production of different types of yeast- and chemically-leavened bread, crackers, pasta products, breakfast cereals, and snack foods
• Protocols to bioenzymatically transform starch into modified starches, syrups, and sweeteners
• Laboratory processes for the production of regular and light beers, distilled spirits, and fuel ethanol

By working through the contents of the book, readers acquire hands-on experience in many quality control procedures and experimental product development protocols of cereal-based products. From these foundations, they are certain to develop enhanced research skills for product development, process design, and ingredient functionality.