Inofa, The Only Heat-Treated Flour in Indonesia

Heat-treated flour is ​​a modified flour that has been heated at high temperatures. It has a different character compared to regular flour and has some additional functional values when applied to dishes. This modified flour also has gone through a bacteria-killing process, making it safer for consumption in unbaked dough or foods.

Here in Indonesia, you may not easily find this modified wheat flour in the market. In fact, Inofa, a brand owned by PT Mulia Inti Pangan, is the only heat-treated flour brand in all of Southeast Asia. With the latest technology and support from its international team of industry experts, PT Mulia Inti Pangan delivers this innovative and valuable flour for its customers.

What is Heat-Treated Flour?

Heat-treated flour is modified flour that has been heated at high temperatures (around 100°C). This flour has gone through a bacteria-killing process using high temperatures, making it a safer choice for consumers in unbaked dough or foods. But, why should flour be heated?

Flour is raw food. It may not look like raw food, but it actually is, just like fresh fruits and vegetables. The grains from where flour is milled are grown in outdoor fields and they are exposed to various harmful bacteria that result in contamination by organisms such as Salmonella and the pathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli). 

Processing wheat grain such as grinding grains and bleaching flour does not kill harmful bacteria. Therefore, consuming unbaked dough that contains raw flour can be harmful to humans. The majority of people understood the dangers of eating raw dough due to the presence of raw eggs and the risks associated with Salmonella. However, they are not yet aware of the additional risks coming from raw flour as it also contains these harmful bacteria.

Therefore, raw flour must go through a process of killing bacteria. Food processors typically perform several steps to kill bacteria, including boiling, baking, microwaving, and roasting. All of these processes have one thing in common, using heat because high temperatures are proven to be effective in killing bacteria.

Processing flour at high temperatures is the best way to preserve its nutritional content as the heating process also increases its palatability. In addition, heat-treating flour has replaced chemically modifying starch which provides important attributes useful for baking/cooking as well as dry mixes. The starch gelatinization process allows the starch to absorb water and stabilizes the baking process, providing additional functional value for consumers.

Heat-Treated Flour Benefits

Processing flour at high temperatures provides many functional added values for consumers. To begin with, a study suggests that heating flour may be a better way to nutritionally process protein in the flour. When processed at high temperatures, proteins are denatured and water absorption is increased.

Apart from the nutritional side, heating flour also provides benefits in terms of flour quality. Some of these benefits are:

1. Safer flour for consumption

As mentioned above, the heating process – whether it’s boiling, roasting, or baking the flour, serves as a bacteria-killing process. That way, the flour becomes free of bacteria and safe for consumption in unbaked dough or foods.

2. A higher absorption rate

Flour that is treated at high temperatures has a strong ability to absorb water, due to the starch gelatinization process in the flour. The starch granules swell with water adding viscosity to the dough and stabilization for the baking process. When used as a food coating batter, this stability helps the coating stick better.

3. Better baked goods

Not only does the quality of the flour improve, but also the quality of the dishes made from this flour. heat-treated flour produces very soft cake crumbs, and a light, moist, smooth cake texture. Using this flour can also increase cake volume and extend the cake’s shelf life.

Inofa, The Only Heat-Treated Flour Product in Indonesia

In Indonesia, there's no single flour producer that produces heat-treated flour except PT Mulia Inti Pangan. In fact, they are the only heat-treated flour manufacturer in Southeast Asia and have been supplying their flour all over Asia through the Inofa brand. 

Inofa is one of the flagship products of PT Mulia Inti Pangan in the Business to Business (B2B) sector, together with the company's Seafood Coating System. To get premium quality food products, food business owners often look for raw materials that can provide functional value to their products. The use of Inofa helps business owners improve several product qualities such as texture, product shelf life, and overall product quality.

Inofa is made with the latest technology from PT Mulia Inti Pangan. The company relies on its state-of-the-art innovation center supported by an international team of industry experts to deliver valuable and sustainable solutions to its customers. As a result, the flour has the highest, most outstanding quality compared to other brands in the country.

Moving forward, PT Mulia Inti Pangan will create more innovations and improvements for all of its brands, including Inofa. To find out more about Inofa and as well as other products from PT Mulia Inti Pangan, visit our website at www.sriboga.com.

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