
New Device Measures Quality in Single Grain
KernelsBy Linda McGraw November 1, 1999The first commercially available
instrument to quickly detect quality in single grain kernels has been
developed, based on several years of teamwork between
Agricultural Research Service scientists
in Manhattan, Kan., and an Illinois instrument manufacturer. The Perten SKCS 4170, made and sold by
Perten Instruments in
Springfield, Ill., combines a single kernel hardness tester with near-infrared
(NIR) technology. Perten employees will demonstrate the device Nov. 1-4 at a
meeting of the American Association
of Cereal Chemists in Seattle. ARS researchers are using the instrument in studies to improve food quality
and safety. They originally designed the single kernel hardness tester to
separate hard and soft wheat. But the instrument can be calibrated to measure
many quality attributes--such as hardness, protein, starch, internal insect
infestation, color or disease--in single kernels. To confirm these
characteristics would ordinarily require time-consuming chemical analysis. Now, with this first-of-its-kind technology, grain quality can be checked at
a rate of one kernel per second. For instance, if one kernel out of 100 has
scab damage, this machine will detect it. Scab is a disease that has cost some
wheat growers billions of dollars in losses. Grain inspectors have had to rely
on subjective visual inspection to assess grain quality. The infrared portion
of the new instrument performs a quick check on each kernel, measuring quality
attributes comprised of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Finding still more uses for the device, ARS researchers in Manhattan are
showing that the NIR portion of the instrument can be used to differentiate
damaged and sound figs. And the instrument can determine the age of flies,
species of stored grain insects, and whether flies or weevils have been
parasitized. This information is important for improving insect control
programs. Scientific contact: Floyd E. Dowell, ARS
Grain Marketing and Production Research
Center, 1515 College Avenue, Manhattan, KS, 66502, phone (785) 776-2753,
fax (785) 776-2792, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |