Research on the parameters of mixing technological additives with wheat flour

The article is devoted to studying feasibility and effectiveness of introducing technological additives directly into the production process at flour milling enterprises. The advantages of using additives to stabilize the quality of wheat flour—regardless of properties of the raw material influenced by climatic conditions or grain variety—are substantiated. Particular attention is paid to the effect of amylolytic enzyme preparations on the baking properties of flour, including improvements in dough elasticity, water absorption, and the volume of finished products. Relevance of the topic is determined by the need to adjust baking properties of wheat flour, as confirmed by numerous studies by Ukrainian and European scientists. The aim of the study is to determine optimal conditions for dosing and mixing technological additives in the production process, using wheat flour as an example. To achieve this goal, the technological scheme of the flour mill with a capacity of 150 tons per day was analyzed, quali-tative characteristics of flour were studied, and optimal mixing conditions of flour with vitamin B₂ as a model additive were experimentally determined. Key mixing parameters were established under laboratory and industrial conditions, including mixing speed, duration, and equipment loading factor.It was found that effective mixing is achieved at the rotation speed of 1.33–1.67 s⁻¹ and the duration of 90–180 s in the laboratory mixer. The study confirmed that increasing concentration of the additive positively affects the homogeneity of the mixture. In industrial conditions, using the EMCEtec GLD 87 dispenser, uniform mixing with the vatiation coefficient of 4.2 %—classified as “good”—was achieved. Test baking results showed that the loaf volume of samples with additives in-creased by 1.5–1.6 times and porosity by 1.1 times compared to the control flour sample. The findings confirm effectiveness and feasibility of introducing technological additives into flour directly during production.Results may be useful for specialists in the flour milling industry, developers of food enrichment technologies, and food product manufacturers.