One of the factors affecting the quality of bread in flour obtained from wheat is amylase enzymes and especially alpha-amylase enzyme activity in wheat. The activity of amylase enzyme in flour is determined by determination of drop number. Determination of amylase activity is very important in terms of bread production technology. It is carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough fermented and bakes during baking.

Yeast activity during fermentation while making bread is related to the amount of sugar in the medium. In the bread making technique applied in our country, sugar is not added to the formulation and yeast produces gas by using glucose formed by the disintegration of starch. Amylases are present in beta and alpha form in wheat flour. Usually, beta-amylase is present in sufficient amounts in wheat flour, but alpha-amylase activity varies. If it rains during periods when the wheat is ripe but not harvested, this causes germination of the grains. In this way, the grains have very high alpha-amylase activity. Such flours are not suitable for making bread swollen with yeast. Alpha-amylase activity is low in wheat grown and harvested in dry weather. If the amylase activity is low, the amount of sugar used by the yeast cells is insufficient and the quality of the bread is low.

By determining the number of drops, the enzyme activity of the bud is determined and there are flour mixing ratios or amylase additive levels with different amylase activity using the calculated liquefaction number.

The method of determining the number of drops can be applied not only to wheat, but also to barley, rye and other cereal flours.

The number of drops is defined as the time it takes for the mixer to be released in the dough formed after mixing the flour and water mixture at a certain temperature, to drop to a certain level by starch liquefaction and is determined in seconds.

 

In authorized laboratories, determination of fall number determination of flours is also performed. In normal conditions, the number of drops in bread wheat flour is 25 per second.