October 14, 2003

NCI Offers New Course in Wheat and Flour Quality

Fargo, ND, USA -- Twenty-four participants from three countries will attend a new course initiated this fall at Northern Crops Institute (NCI). Basics of Wheat and Flour Quality is a three-day short course that begins October 15.

“Basics of Wheat and Flour Quality is a new course that NCI is offering to fill a need that we identified in the local and U.S. markets,” said Brian Sorenson, NCI's Technical Director and NDSU Extension Wheat Quality Specialist.

“This course is an excellent opportunity for people from various wheat related industries to learn about the important quality factors associated with wheat and flour, and how they impact final product performance.  We designed this course for those working with wheat and wheat-based products who want to know more about the laboratory tests used to measure quality and the technical basis behind them,” Sorenson concluded.

This course combines lectures with hands-on laboratory testing so the participants can see and learn how to perform these tests and how to interpret the results.  “We want them to leave the NCI with a good understanding of wheat and flour quality,” said Sorenson. The course covers how to evaluate wheat and flour quality, the milling process, function of flour additives and treatments, and flour requirements for different end-use products.

Northern Crops Institute supports regional agriculture and value-added processing by conducting educational and technical programs that expand and maintain domestic and international markets for northern-grown crops.