Miller Magazine Issue: 136 April 2021

72 MILLER / aprıl 2021 COVER STORY The fortification of foods with vitamin D is drawing in- creasing attention around the globe. It is estimated that a billion people suffer from a vitamin D deficiency – and many experts are of the opinion that vitaminized flour offers a highly effective and inexpensive means of com- pensating for this undersupply. Five states have already issued binding regulations on the fortification of flour with vitamin D, and a project directed towards this was recently initiated in Mongolia, too. Mühlenchemie sup- ports the milling industry in the relevant activities and helps the mills by supplying quality premixes with a com- position precisely adjusted to the circumstances in the region and the regulations in force. Since there have been few practical studies on the “newcomer” vitamin D to date, Mühlenchemie’s R&D department at the Stern Technology Center started various test series of its own. Initial results on the baking properties of vitamin D3 and its activity losses in the production of bread and biscuits have already been obtained in 2018. The research scien- tists and applications technologists have now shifted the focus to flour as a raw material and sought to discover whether the fat-soluble micronutrient undergoes func- tional degradation in the fortified flour during storage. Test series with ELCOvit D 3 100 For conduct of the test series, wheat flour Type 405 was fortified with 0.025 mg/kg ELCOvit D 3 100 and stored in a PE bag at 40°C and approximately 50 - 60 % relative humidity. The raw material from Mühlenchemie consists of spray-dried cholecalciferol (vit. D 3 ), stabilized with to- copherol as protection against oxidation. The samples were analyzed after three, six and twelve months. Vitamin D is playing an increasing role in flour fortification. But whereas the importance of this micronutrient for health is becoming more thoroughly understood all the time, there are still many questions to be answered concerning its practical application in the context of fortification programmes. Mühlenchemie has carried out studies to acquire more information on the storage life of vitamin D in flour. The results indicate that vitamin D 3 from the ELCOvit range is highly stable and shows no loss of activity even after twelve months of storage. However, not many laboratories have the expertise necessary for reliable determination of the low percentages present in flour. Fortification of flour with vitamin D 3 : High storage stability, difficult analysis Lena Kampehl Mühlenchemie