A Traditional Guide to Nontraditional Flours
Common flours today include wheat, rye, barley, and oats, with wheat dominating. But it is not the same wheat that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers once consumed. Today, the majority of flour on the market is over-refined, with almost nothing in common with its origin. If we buy finely ground white flour, there are no positive effects on our health to speak of.
Flour Up Close Flour is the ground-up grain kernel with a smaller share of the bran components. In terms of saccharides, starch is in first place (70 percent to 80 percent of the mass), and then proteins, that, in combination with water, produce what we call glutens.
The
water content is about 14.5 percent (it cannot rise above 15 percent). In addition to the aforementioned contents, flour also contains small amounts of fat (1 percent to 2 percent) and fiber (1 percent to 2 percent), which make up cellulose and other polysaccharides. From the nutritional perspective, mineral ash is mineral ash is also important and it makes up between 0.4 percent and 1.8 percent.
Darker or whole-ground flours have higher nutritional value due to their higher bran content. This is primarily on account of the calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sulphur, and alsoselenium present.
Flour contains vitamins — especially B-complex vitamins, which are water soluble: B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) and B6 (pyridoxin). Of the liposoluble vitamins, vitamin E (tocopheroles) is predominant. 
Minerals include calcium, iron, and magnesium. In wheat flour, the natural coloring is predominantly from betacarotene (provitamin A), which gives it its creamy color; in rye flour it is chlorophyll that gives it its grey-green tint. We can also distinguish flours by their color.
Individual Types White Wheat Flour
White wheat flour is made by grinding the kernel without its germ and bran. Herein lies the biggest problem — the waste parts contain the most nutrients and fatty acids. This is why white flour has no nutritional value. The fiber content in white baked goods (and food products including white flour) is especially low.
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