Abstract:
Wheat is omnipresent in the Algerian diet; it is coveted in some countries like Algeria where its production is low which requires its importation, and subsequently the subsidy of its price. The objective of this study is to show the process of storage and processing of soft wheat in the wilaya of mascara and wheat storage conditions, the evaluation of the losses caused by storage over a period of 8 weeks. The survey among farmers showed that 61.29% of them used the insecticides after harvesting wheat and 45.16% of the respondents stored their wheat for a period not exceeding 3 days, also 54, 83% of respondents harvest wheat in a dry climate. The present work is also carried out, in order to appreciate the effect of storage on the technological quality of soft wheat flour produced and marketed in the wilaya of Mascara. To achieve this goal, physico-chemical and technological analyzes have been carried out. Performed (determination of water content, ash content, protein content, gluten content, etc). The results obtained show that the majority of flours studied have very similar characteristics concerning physicochemical tests (the average percentage of moisture of the different flours from the milling of wheat grains are comparable and exceed 14%) and technological, Flours studied are of good quality and acceptable. The analyzes performed are generally in line with the standards in Algeria. However, some values obtained such as those of the Zeleny test of imported wheat flour (21ml) and that of dry and wet gluten (8.55% and 25.66) require corrections because they are less than the norms.
