At Organic Flour Mills NZ, we offer 7 organic whole grains: NZ-grown wheat, spelt, rye, and 4 gluten-free grains: buckwheat, sorghum, millet, and long-grain brown rice - all sourced from organically certified growers.
We use only whole organic grains at Organic Flour Mills.
All our whole grains include all 3 parts:
the outer shell or husk called bran,
the inner germ,
and the layer between the bran and the germ called the endosperm.
The outer bran is important particularly for its fibre, which slows the breakdown of the starch into glucose, helps move the contents of the digestive tract along (which is called peristalsis) and lowers cholesterol. The bran also contains important B vitamins, essential minerals and protein. All these benefits are lost when the bran is removed in the refining of the grain to make so-called “wholemeal” and white flour. At Organic Flour Mills, ALL the bran is retained in milling the flours.
The inner germ contains healthy fats, E and B vitamins, all of which are removed if the grain is refined to prolong shelf life. We retain all the germ in our flours. But shelf life is increased through the gentle process of Zentrofan milling which enables any moisture to be evaporated.
The endosperm or inner layer of the grain contains mostly carbs and some protein. If grain is refined, almost all the vitamins, minerals and fibre are stripped away, leaving basically the carbs and protein.
At Organic Flour Mills we mill only organic whole grain flour in order to retain the full bran and germ, as well as the endosperm. We do not refine the grain or flour in any way. All our grains are whole grain and all our flours, milled in our Zentrofan mills, are whole-grain flours.