Grain processing: we should not pursue "fine whiteness" too much

According to the statistics of the China Grain Industry Association, about 20 per cent of wheat and rice is processed into refined noodles and rice every year, resulting in a grain loss of about 15 billion jin. " At the Grain Science and Technology activity week sponsored by the State Grain Administration not long ago, the waste caused by grain processing attracted a lot of attention.

At present, China's grain processing pursues "fine white" too much, and the low rate of finished grain products, low consumption rate, low utilization rate and low efficiency have become several major constraints restricting the development.

A reflection on the number: it is imperative to realize High-quality Grain supply

15 billion jin-this figure reflects a problem that can not be ignored in China's grain processing industry.

"consumers' demand for whole-grain food is increasing day by day, but at present, excessive grain processing in China pursues too much 'fine whiteness', good appearance and good taste of the products, resulting in a large number of grain losses." Wang Ruiyuan, chief expert of the China Grain and Oil Association, pointed out that in order to pursue pink and bright white, some processing enterprises have reduced the wheat flour yield to less than 70%. Processing enterprises generally pursue the whiteness and brightness of rice, with a rice yield of only 60% and a minimum of 50%.

Chen Zhengxing, the first doctor of food engineering in China and a professor at the School of Food of Jiangnan University, has done in-depth research on grain intensive processing. He pointed out that grain processing unilaterally pursues excessive refinement, fineness, and whiteness of finished products, resulting in a large number of loss of nutrients, a reduction in production rate, and a substantial increase in energy consumption, and so on, and measures should be taken as soon as possible to achieve high-quality and effective supply of grain in China.

On the one hand, grain processing is extensive and wasteful, on the other hand, the scientific and technological content of grain processing is insufficient.

According to Tan Bin, a researcher at the National Academy of Grain Sciences, China's grain resources are used extensively, the products and their uses are single, and the level of comprehensive utilization of grain processing by-products is still in the initial stage.

Another data can be used as evidence of this view: according to statistics, China uses about 46.5 million tons of grain for deep processing each year, accounting for less than 10 percent of grain output, while developed countries use more than 70 percent of grain for deep processing. Grain is used for industrial production of about 9.3 million tons of food, accounting for only about 1.85 percent of grain output.

As a result, experts call for a complete change in the current pattern of "strong rice and weak rice" and "weak wheat flour", and realize multiple transformation and value-added of grain resources through vertical and horizontal extension of the product chain, value chain, and industrial chain.

Behind a grain of rice: many difficulties in grain processing remain to be solved

Talking about the problems existing in China's grain processing industry, Chen Zhengxing is not shy about it. At Grain Science and Technology week, he brought a new technology to improve the consumption rate and processing value-added rate of rice.

"Don't look at this little grain of rice, there is a lot of knowledge behind it." Before the processing machine, Chen Zhengxing picked up a handful of rice and told reporters that the by-product of rice processing is called broken rice, which is used to produce starch sugar and produce rice residue. In the past, rice dregs, as the raw material of the feed industry, was worth only a few thousand yuan per ton. Through this technology, the value of rice dregs protein extracted from food can be quintupled.

However, not every grain of rice can have such "luck". Deep processing of broken rice is a successful case of deep processing and efficient transformation, but on the whole, the utilization rate of resources in China's grain processing industry is not high, and the added value is low.

The field of deep processing of corn is also facing the same crux. Yue Guojun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that at present, there are less than 1000 kinds of corn processing products in China, while there are about 3500 corn processing products in the United States. In China, corn high value-added products are still in the early stage of growth, and there is a lot of room for growth.

"improving the utilization rate of deep processing of grain has become an important part of the national grain strategy." Chen Zhengxing pointed out: however, at present, the rate of finished grain processing in China is low, the consumption rate is low, the utilization rate is low, the efficiency is low, and the grain processing industry chain is short. The reason is that the technology of deep processing and transformation of grain is backward.

Experts pointed out that as China's agricultural development enters a new stage, it is necessary to develop intensive and deep processing technologies with high resource utilization, low energy consumption and less environmental pollution, adjust the product structure, and increase the economic benefits of the entire agricultural industry chain. it has become a major strategic demand for China's national economic and social development.

The Innovation of one way: let the traditional Grain processing Industry spread its wings

Wang Ruiyuan pointed out that it is necessary to focus on hot issues in grain science and technology and processing and seize the commanding heights of the grain processing industry through innovation-driven efforts.

"take rice as an example, although the processing level of the main products of the rice industry is already quite high, there are many rough processed products and few deeply processed products, which is one of the main reasons for the situation of 'strong rice and weak rice'." Chen Zhengxing said that the annual output of rice husk is about 54 million tons, most of which are treated by simple incineration. We should know that through the use of high and new technology, rice can be transformed into high value-added products required by multi-variety, specialized and serialized food, health care, pharmaceutical, chemical and other industries.

He suggested that we should adhere to the priority strategy of quality and safety, achieve major improvements in major and key common technological innovation capabilities through integrated tackling key problems, and solve the bottleneck of a number of clean processing technologies and equipment that reduce grain hazards and have no secondary pollution. to provide technical support for the safety and value-added utilization of grain and the scientific development of the grain processing industry.