It is widely used as an index, especially for refinement of
foods such as wheat flour. Ash content is a good indicator to understand
the discrimination of bran and germfromthewheat kernel during flour
milling. This is because bran has approximately twenty times higher ash
content than endosperm. Furthermore, minerals in powder foods are
responsible for increasing hygroscopicity indirectly throughwater-mineral
bonds and indirectly mineral-carbohydrate interactions