Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC): Utilization and Interpretation
As a service to its wheat milling and baking customers, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) provides a range of technical support that is unmatched in the global wheat trade. One of the most valuable services USW has offered is helping customers apply Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) analysis to better predict the true performance characteristics of flour for biscuits (cookies), crackers and cakes, as well as many hard wheat flour applications.
A Reflection of Functionality
More specifically, SRC examines the glutenin, gliadin and pentosan characteristics of the flour, and the level of starch damage in the flour. These values describe the flour’s ability to absorb water during the mixing process and its ability to release that water during the baking process. The combined pattern of the four SRC values establishes a practical flour quality profile useful for predicting functionality and how flour products conform to specifications.
USW is showing millers how to use SRC to analyze flour streams to maximize quality while minimizing costs. For bakers, such testing ensures they are using the best possible flour for their products.
In 2020, as part of its virtual Crop Quality Seminar series, USW asked cereal chemist Art Bettge to go into more depth on how millers and bakers can use and interpret SRC results to add value to their processes and products. A cereal chemist with more than 40 years of experience at the USDA Agricultural Research Service Western Wheat Quality Laboratory in Pullman, Wash., and in his ADB Wheat Consulting business, Bettge recorded an in-depth video presentation.
Watch Bettge’s entire presentation from the 2020 USW Crop Quality Seminars below. USW technical staff also shared their recommended Solvent Retention Capacity profiles for cookie and cracker products online. And most importantly, USW representatives in 13 offices around the world, are always ready to help our customers, through technical support and trade service, making buying U.S. wheat a rewarding experience.
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