ASIAN consumers are catching on to the health benefits of wholegrain-based foods and that could open up a wealth of opportunities for the Australian grains industry.
Sabrina Lim, food scientist with the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) told the Australian Grains Industry Conference (AGIC) Asia that Australia's grain quality meant it had a natural advantage in the wholegrain market.
"Australian wheat has less colour and there is less bitterness in the seed coating, which means it is an ideal candidate for use in wholegrain products," Ms Lim said.
She said the health benefits of wholegrains were clear.
"Wholegrains are the biggest dropper of risk of mortality you can have in your diet, increasing wholegrain consumption can have a major impact," she said.
"Governments are aware of that, in Singapore the government has launched an official push to increase wholegrain levels in commonly consumed foods.
"It all adds up to some big opportunities for grain producers, Australia's less bitter, bright coloured wheat is the ultimate choice for Asia."
She said AEGIC was working on developing products using wholegrains that were most palatable to the Asian market.
Particle size is important to creating the right mouthfeel and texture for food like you tiao (Chinese fried bread sticks) and noodles.
"Getting the right consistency to create a breadstick with the airy texture consumers want, rather than a more dense product is quite difficult."
"There is a lot we have to understand to get these wholegrain products to a level where they are accepted by the consumers.
She said there were also visual considerations when using wholegrains.
"Wholegrain lowers the colour of the product, especially as the particle sizes decrease and that can have an implication in terms of consumer preference."
Ms Lim also said there were products where 100pc wholegrain would not be acceptable.
"With noodles, a 50pc ratio of ultra fine wholegrains created the most acceptable mouthfeel, while with steamed bread, a 100pc ration of wholegrains was not acceptable as the end product was too dense."
She said wholegrains had to be processed so they did not create a gritty mouthfeel in other applications.
However, she said there were workarounds with different production techniques that could lower the impact on the final product.
AEGIC will look to work with Asian miller customers on the results from its work on using wholegrains in a bid to get more Asian wholegrain food onto retail shelves.
Given the increased usage of wheat from other origins in Asia the wholegrain wheat sector could be one where Australia has a realistic chance of winning a price premium.
While the quality of wheat from rival exporters such as Russia and Ukraine has improved the colour of Australian grain still remains a brighter white.
Much of the bitterness in the bran is associated with the colour of the grain.