Impact of different milling techniques towards vitamin D3 fortification in wheat flour.

This study was to provide innovative information on bio-fortification and to implement strategies for improving vitamin D3
in wheat products. The commercially available wheat grains were passed through different milling processes via Hammer
mill (HM) and Roller mill (RM) to yield wheat flour of different particle sizes (HM-CWF, HM-FWF, RM-WF and RM-MF).
The obtained flours were fortified with commercially available vitamin D3
oil premix. Fortification efficiency was higher in
finer flour (HM-FWF and RM-MF). Fortification had no significant effect on the color of the flour. Physico-chemical analysis
revealed higher damaged starch in HM flour than in RM which was confirmed through scanning electron microscope. Water
absorption capacity enhanced with larger particle size with simultaneous reduction in dough development time. Chapatis
were prepared with fortified HM-CWF, HM-FWF, and RM-WF, whereas bread was made with RM-MF. Fortification has no
significant effect on the texture and color of prepared chapati and bread. Sensory analysis revealed a slightly higher positive
effect in the fortified sample with overall acceptability. HM-FWF Chapatis had the best retention of vitamin D3
(85%), and
the fortified bread prepared from RM-MF had 70% retention. This research suggests that fortifying fine flour with vitamin
D3
is more effective than using coarse flour.