Pasta, bread and flours, baked goods, snacks and other cereal-based foods. The scientific study published in Nutrients by the research group led by Professor Enzo Spisni - in addition to exhibiting the differences between ancient grains and modern grains - shows the impact of the wheat processing method on food quality and consumer health. (1)
Human physiology and manufacturing processes
Starting with the industrial revolution, the variety of grain-based foods has increased significantly. (2). The manufacturing processes tend to be more and more invasive and yet do not seem to adapt perfectly to the human organism and its physiological processes, since our organism is not always able to recognize the resulting products. Disorders related to the digestion of some wheat-based foods have therefore been attributed to these changes. (3)
In addition to refining, among the industrial processes applied to wheat, the highest dough intensities for baking bread and the use of chemical yeast instead of natural leavening are mentioned. As well as the increased use of extrusion and high temperature cooking, which can by the way cause the formation of acrylamide. And the addition of vital, or exogenous, gluten.
Milling (or grinding)
The milling it is the first transformation process to which the wheat undergoes. It is mainly carried out inside cylinder mills which - in the case of the production of refined flours (type 0 and 00) - mill the kernels to the point of almost totally depriving them of the fiber and vitamin content, which reside in the wheat germ and are thus removed. Stone grinders are also used, in particular for the transformation of ancient grains into wholemeal or not very refined flours (type 1 and 2).
Wholemeal and semi-wholemeal flours (type 1 and 2), as seen, are enjoying growing success, especially in Italy. Precisely because the attention of consumers towards the benefits of whole grains has increased for health. Although the labels of baked goods are still misleading, as seen, in many cases.
Baked goods, leavening and adding vital (or exogenous) gluten
Chemical yeasts are often used, in industrial processes, instead of natural ones (often designated in the ingredients list with the wording 'mother yeast', which is subject to labeling requirements for compound ingredients). Sourdough, on the other hand, increases the digestibility of wheat proteins, including gluten (4) and other proteins with potential inflammatory effects, such as trypsin amylase inhibitors (ATIs). (5). Natural yeasts are therefore potentially able to reduce their immunogenic load.
Vital or 'exogenous' gluten it can also be added to some baked products, to give them particular technological properties. Such as emulsification, cohesion, viscoelasticity, gelation and foaming. Its use has increased dramatically in the last few decades. To the point where it is estimated that the 'exogenous' gluten intake in the United States tripled between 1977 and 2012, from 140 to over 400 g / person / year. (8)
Bread baking and pasta drying
Temperature higher used for industrial processes, such as baking bread or drying pasta, in turn reduces the digestibility of wheat proteins. (4) The most evident differences, in the practices of transformation of ancient and modern grains, concern the invasive industrial processes to which the latter are often subjected. The cultivar on the other hand, ancient ones tend to be worked using more traditional and less invasive methods. With stone grinding and the use - for the preparation of bread - of traditional yeasts (S. Cerevisiae). That is sourdough, rich in lactobacilli and capable of effectively degrading one of the inflammatory components of the wheat proteome, the ATI proteins. (5)
cooking of doughs subject to natural leavening seems to reduce the quantities of ATI and FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols,). As well as short-chain carbohydrates, which are present in wheat and due to poor absorption contribute to intestinal swelling. (6) On the other hand, modern grains are often refined and used for the production of processed or processed foods ultraprocessed, with the addition of additives and exogenous gluten, which can also drastically worsen the nutritional profiles. (7)
Dario Dongo and Paolo Caruso
Footnotes
(1) Enzo Spisni, Veronica Imbesi, Elisabetta Giovanardi, Giovannamaria Petrocelli, Patrizia Alvisi and Maria Chiara Valeri. (2019). Differential Physiological Responses Elicited by Ancient and Heritage Wheat Cultivars Compared to Modern Ones. Nutrients 2019, 11, 2879; doi: 10.3390 / nu11122879
(2) Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW (2012). Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr. Rev. 2012, 70, 3–21
(3) Carrera-Bastos, P., Fontes-Villalba, M., O'Keefe, JH, Lindeberg, S., Cordain, L. (2011). The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization. Res. Rep. Clin. cardiol. 2011, 2, 15–35
(4) Wu T., Taylor C., Nebl T., Ng K., Bennett LE (2017). Effects of chemical composition and baking on in vitro digestibility of proteins in breads made from selected gluten-containing and gluten-free flours. Food chem. 2017, 233, 514–524
(5) Caminero A., McCarville JL, Zevallos VF, Pigrau M., Yu XB, Jury J., Galipeau HJ, Clarizio AV, Casqueiro J., Murray JA et al. (2019). Lactobacilli Degrade Wheat Amylase Trypsin Inhibitors to Reduce Intestinal Dysfunction Induced by Immunogenic Wheat Proteins. Gastroenterology 2019, 156, 2266–2280
(6) Laatikainen R., Koskenpato J., Hongisto SM, Loponen J., Poussa T., Huang X., Sontag-Strohm T., Salmenkari H., Korpela R. (2017). Pilot Study: Comparison of Sourdough Wheat Bread and Yeast-Fermented Wheat Bread in Individuals with Wheat Sensitivity and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Nutrients 2017, 9, 1215
(7) Monteiro CA, Cannon G., Levy RB, Moubarac JC, Louzada ML, Rauber F., Khandpur N., Cediel G., Neri, D.; L, Martinez-Steele E. et al. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: What they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition 2019, 22, 936–941
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Agronomist, collaborates with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania, Agronomy and Herbaceous Crops section. Researcher on ancient Sicilian grains.
