Addition of wheat bran to flours modifies their expansion properties after cooking extrusion. This can be attributed to changes in the melt shear viscosity at the die. The effect of wheat bran concentration added to achieve 2 levels of dietary fibers of 12. 6% and 24.4%, and process conditions on the shear viscosity of wheat flour was therefore assessed using an online twin-slit rheometer. The shear viscosity measured at 30 s⁻¹ ranged from 9.5 × 10³ to 53.4 × 10³ Pa s. Regardless of the process conditions and bran concentration, the extruded melts showed a pseudoplastic behavior with a power law index n ranging from 0.05 to 0.27. Increasing the barrel temperature of the extruder from 120 to 180 °C, the water content from 18% to 22% or the screw speed from 400 to 800 rpm significantly decreased the melt shear viscosity at the extruder exit. The addition of bran significantly increased the melt shear viscosity only at the highest bran concentration. The effect was process condition dependant. Mathematical interpretations, based upon observations, of the experimental data were carried out. They can be used to predict the effect of the process conditions on the melt shear viscosity at the die of extruded wheat flour with increasing bran concentration. The viscosity data will be applied in future works to study the expansion properties of extruded wheat flour supplemented with bran.
Practical application: Incorporation of wheat bran, a readily available and low cost by-product, in extruded puffed foods is constrained due to its negative effect on the product texture. Understanding the effect of wheat bran on rheological properties of extruded melts, driving the final product properties, is essential to provide solutions to the food industry and enhance its use.
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