For flour mills across the Middle East and Africa, sourcing wheat from different origins brings a constant challenge: maintaining consistent flour performance as raw material characteristics change. Careful wheat analysis and blending, supported where necessary by targeted enzyme and additive systems, help millers manage this variability and meet the specific requirements of different end products.
The Middle East and Africa are among the world’s most dynamic regions in terms of wheat trade and flour production. Rapid population growth, the central role of bread and other wheat-based products in daily diets, and climatic conditions that limit domestic wheat production in many countries have made flour mills in the region increasingly dependent on imported wheat. This trend has become particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. According to USDA data, wheat imports into the region stood at approximately 26.7 million tons in 2020/21, 26.8 million tons in 2021/22, 24.3 million tons in 2022/23, and 28.0 million tons in 2023/24. In 2024/25, imports exceeded 30 million tons. A similarly high level of import dependency exists in the Middle East. Egypt, Türkiye, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, among the region’s largest importers, account collectively for a substantial share of regional demand. In particular, the procurement of approximately 12.5 million tons of wheat by Egypt, 2.2 million tons by Iraq, and 3.57 million tons by Saudi Arabia during the 2024/25 marketing year demonstrates the strategic importance of imported wheat to the milling industry in the Middle East and North Africa. The USDA also expects wheat demand in the region to remain strong in 2025/26.
In addition to the growing volume of imports, the diversity of raw material sources has become an important issue for the milling industry. The European Union and Russia are the leading suppliers of wheat to Sub-Saharan Africa, and these two sources account for at least 70% of the region’s total imports in many periods. However, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and other suppliers also play significant roles in different markets. In Middle Eastern countries, the supply structure varies according to the country and procurement period, with the Black Sea region—particularly Russia and Ukraine—alongside the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Australia among the major origins. Large importers such as Egypt rely predominantly on Black Sea and European sources, while Saudi Arabia’s procurement programs have included wheat from Europe, the Black Sea region, North America, and Australia at different times. Consequently, the fundamental challenge faced by flour mills in the region is not merely securing sufficient quantities of wheat, but also managing the variability in quality and technological characteristics among wheats originating from different sources.
MANAGING QUALITY ACROSS WHEAT ORIGINS
From a milling perspective, one of the most important consequences of this diversity is that producing flour with the same specifications is not always straightforward. The geographical origin, cultivar, climatic conditions, crop year, and storage conditions of wheat can affect numerous parameters, including protein content and quality, gluten characteristics, starch properties, enzyme activity, test weight, and water absorption capacity. Therefore, for a modern flour mill, simply using high- or low-protein wheat is not sufficient. The primary objective is to blend different wheats at appropriate ratios in order to produce flour with stable and predictable characteristics for a specific end product.
Egypt represents one of the most important examples of this situation in the Middle East and North Africa. According to USDA data, Egypt’s wheat imports were estimated at 12.5 million tons in the 2024/25 marketing year. This high import volume is associated with the country’s large population, high bread consumption, and insufficient domestic production to meet total demand. Egypt is also becoming a regional supply center for flour and flour-based products. Consequently, the ability of Egyptian flour mills to process wheats from different origins and achieve specific and consistent flour characteristics is important not only for the domestic market but also for regional trade.
Iraq and Saudi Arabia are two important Middle Eastern markets that illustrate the diversity of wheat sources from a milling perspective. Iraq was expected to import approximately 2.2 million tons of wheat in 2024/25, while Saudi Arabia’s official wheat purchases during the same period amounted to approximately 3.57 million tons. Saudi Arabia’s minimum protein requirement of 12.5% for imported wheat demonstrates that not only the quantity of raw material but also quality specifications are critical during the procurement process. In both countries, the simultaneous evaluation of domestically produced wheat and wheat sourced from different countries requires flour mills to manage variations in raw material characteristics effectively.
In such a diverse supply environment, protein content alone is not a sufficient indicator of wheat quality; gluten quality, water absorption capacity, starch characteristics, and endogenous enzyme activity also determine flour performance. Therefore, blending wheats from different origins at appropriate ratios and, where necessary, subsequently supporting the flour with targeted enzyme systems such as amylases, xylanases, lipases, or oxidative enzymes represent an important tool for producing flour with standardized characteristics. From this perspective, enzyme application should not be regarded merely as a means of “correcting weak flour,” but rather as a controlled component of the process designed to achieve more consistent and reproducible flour performance from variable raw materials.
BLENDING STRATEGIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is a particularly noteworthy example of how different wheat origins influence the milling industry. The USDA projects that Nigeria will import approximately 6.4 million tons of wheat in 2025/26, placing the country among the world’s largest wheat importers. More importantly, the Nigerian milling industry is reported to blend lower-cost wheat from the European Union and the Black Sea region with higher-quality wheat sourced from countries such as Canada and the United States. These blends are used to meet the requirements of different product categories, including bread, cakes, and biscuits.
The Nigerian example clearly demonstrates why milling is not simply a grinding process. Even when wheats from different origins have similar protein contents, they may differ in gluten quality, dough stability, water absorption capacity, starch damage, and enzyme activity. Therefore, two wheats with the same protein level do not necessarily produce flours with the same baking performance. The miller’s role is to control this variability primarily through appropriate blending and, where necessary, through the use of flour-improving systems.
Kenya exhibits a similar structure. The USDA’s estimate for 2025/26 places the country’s wheat imports at approximately 2.6 million tons. Russia is Kenya’s principal supplier, while wheat is also sourced from different origins, including Canada and Argentina. More recent Kenyan trade data also indicate that the supplier structure can change considerably from year to year; in addition to Russia, countries such as Argentina, Canada, and Australia can obtain significant market shares during different periods. This situation requires flour mills to possess processing and formulation capabilities that allow them to work with changing raw materials rather than relying exclusively on a single country of origin or a single wheat profile.
The common factor across all of these examples is that flour mills cannot always operate with wheat of identical quality and technological characteristics. When wheat origin changes, the relationship between protein and gluten, starch behavior, and endogenous enzyme activity may also change. The first line of defense against this variability is appropriate wheat selection and blending. However, blending alone may not always be sufficient to achieve the desired flour performance. This is where flour additives and, in particular, enzymes have become important technological tools in modern milling.
THE ROLE OF ENZYMES IN FLOUR PERFORMANCE
One of the most important advantages of enzymes in milling and baking is their ability to act in a targeted manner on specific flour components. For example, alpha-amylases support starch hydrolysis and the formation of sugars that can be utilized by yeast during fermentation, thereby contributing to gas production and loaf volume. However, excessive alpha-amylase activity can also lead to undesirable results; therefore, the objective is to control the process by applying the enzyme at the appropriate level. For this reason, falling number and other measurements of starch activity are important indicators when determining enzyme application levels.
Xylanases act primarily on arabinoxylans and can modify water management and rheological properties in dough. Scientific and applied studies have shown that the use of the enzyme xylanase can slightly reduce water absorption, increase bread volume, and contribute to a softer crumb structure. Lipases modify lipids in the dough and can influence dough stability, gas retention capacity, loaf volume, and staling behavior. Proteases, on the other hand, can be used to regulate dough machinability, particularly when gluten strength is excessively high. In addition, oxidative enzymes such as glucose oxidase can contribute to the strengthening of the gluten network.
Enzyme application should not be regarded as a “correction” method capable of transforming low-quality wheat into high-quality wheat. A more appropriate approach is to consider enzymes as process tools that help utilize the technological potential of the available raw material in a more controlled, reproducible, and targeted manner. While the basic flour characteristics are established through the blending of wheats from different origins, the enzyme system can enable the flour to approach the specifications of a particular end product with greater precision. This approach is particularly important for product standardization in markets where raw material quality can vary from shipment to shipment. Research has also demonstrated that different combinations of enzymes can produce distinct effects on dough rheology, loaf volume, crumb structure, and staling.
In conclusion, the milling industry in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa increasingly requires the capability to produce standardized flour from increasingly diverse wheat raw materials as wheat imports grow and supply sources become more diversified. In the milling industry of the future, competitive advantage will not be limited to purchasing the right wheat at the right price. The ability to analyze wheats from different origins, blend them appropriately, and, where necessary, support them with suitable enzyme and additive systems to produce flour with stable, predictable, and targeted performance will become one of the most important indicators of a flour mill’s technological competence.