Grains and seeds

There is nothing more difficult in its introduction, more hazardous in its undertaking and more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the development of a new way of things 

This chapter will be about applications. It will avoid the specifics of the chemistry of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), and of chemometrics. It will attempt to illustrate in one locus the variables that can affect application of NIRS to grains and seeds and their derived products. Over 50 factors associated with the grains and seeds themselves have been identified (1), any of which can interact to complicate the operation. To confuse the picture yet further is the fact that they may interact in different ways, to different degrees, and under different conditions (of temperature, etc.) and may not even interact at all. Application of NIRS to grains and seeds is complicated by the wide-ranging variance in their size, shape, color, density, composition and texture. 

Near-infrared spectroscopy has changed the world of commercial grain handling forever. 

The first official real-world application of NIRS in 1975 (when the Canadian Grain Commission changed their massive wheat protein-marketing system from Kjeldahl to NIRS) alerted the world to a rapid, safe, reliable, and inexpensive method for composition analysis. Other industries began to capitalize on the technology, at 

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Food Science and Technology, Edited by Yukihiro Ozaki, W. Fred McClure, and Alfred A. Christy. 

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Prior to analysis, samples should be chopped and finely pulverized with iiquid nitrogen using a large Hobart (forage, hay, fodder and straw samples) or a Wiley mill (grain and seed samples). Recently, frozen crop matrices were processed more effectively with a Robot Coupe vertical cutter/mixer without liquid nitrogen. 

While plants may take up241 Am from the soil, the amount taken up is small, especially in the parts of the plant that you eat most often like the fruit, grain, and seeds. While fish may take up 241 Am, very little builds up in the flesh. Most of the 241 Am found in shellfish like shrimp or mussels is attached to the shell, rather than in the edible parts of the animal. For more information about what happens to americium in the environment, see Chapter 6. 

Aman J, Farkas L, Ben-Shamai MH, et al. 1946. Experiments on the use of ethylene dibromide as a fumigant for grain and seed. Annals of Applied Biology 33 389-395. 

K.H. Norris and J.R. Hart, Direct spectrophotometric determination of moisture content of grains and seeds, in Proceedings 1963 International Symposium on Humidity and Moisture in Liquids and Solids, A. Wexler (ed.), vol 4 Reinhold, New York, 1965 p. 19. 

Agricultural products are often subjected to dehydration to improve storage stability grains, and seeds are typical examples. Critical moisture contents must be achieved so that these products can be stored safely. This is closely related to the economic value of crops... 

Norris, K. H. (1965) Direct spectrophotometric determination of moisture content of grain and seeds. Princ. Methods Meas. Moisture Content Liquids Solids 4, 19-25. 

Maztech Microvisions Spy grain grader is an image analysis benchtop instrument that uses linear CCD arrays to determine objective grade and non-grade factors in grains and seeds [140]. 

Protection Offered Dust plants and soil with DE to control crawling pests like slugs and snails. On plant foliage, DE will kill soft-bodied pests like aphids, caterpillars, leaf-hoppers, and thrips hairy-bodied pests may be somewhat resistant. It is an excellent product for use in stored grain and seeds, and for indoor flea and louse control. Farmers often... 

Nature s Path PomegranCherry Optimum Energy Bar (natures path.com/products/bars)—among many grain and seed ingredients, contains date puree, pomegranate juice concentrate, raisins, dried cherries, freeze-dried raspberry pieces, red beet juice concentrate (for extra anthocyanins), and vitamin E it is rich... 

Phytate or inositol hexaphosphate is a potential source of phosphorus present in many grains and seeds. The phytic acid is determined by treating the sample with EDTA and separation and quantitation using anion-exchange column (resin AG 1-X8 and eluent 0.8M NaCl) followed by reaction with a solution of ferric suLfosahcylate. The coloured complex can be observed in the UV range at 300 nm [22]. 

Table VI.—A Comparison of the Average Composition of Some of the More Important Grains and Seeds ...

Generally, grain and seeds store only low concentrations of potassium (Table 1-3.2). The seeds of leguminous plants accumulate more potassium than those of cereals and rape. The differences in potassium content between cereal grains (barley, wheat, rye, oat, triticale) and leguminous seeds are significant. 

Thel iodine concentration of these feeds and foodstuffs further varies with plant species and plant parts. Grains and seeds in Europe store low amounts of iodine (e.g., between 75 and 100 p,g I kg DM), whereas potatoes and leguminous plants store between 100 and 200 pg I kg DM. In Germany, sugar and fodder beets (and their tops) typically accumulate 250 and... 

On average, grain and seed are poor of the flora significantly (Table 9-4.5). For... 

ASABE. S352.2. Moisture Measurement—Unground Grain and Seeds. In ASABE Standards 2006 ... 

ASABE. Standard S352.2. Moisture measurement-unground grain and seeds. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers St. Joseph, MI, 2006. 

PFB dryers have been successfully used for drying of grains and seeds (e.g., peas, beans), sliced and diced vegetables,... 

Source ASAE, S352, 2 Dec. 92, Moisture measurement—unground grain and seeds, 40th edn. ... 

Electrical properties of grain have been utilized for quick moisture tests based on the measurement of resistance, capacitance, or electrical conductivity. Many studies have been devoted to the development of density-independent functions of the dielectric properties that would permit on-line measurement of moisture content [74-76]. Also, measurements of electrical properties of grain and seed have been employed for purposes other than determining moisture content. For example, viable seeds of corn were sorted from dead seeds by measuring the current conducted by individual soaked kernels between electrodes connected to a 6-V dc source [77]. Another application of electrical properties is electrostatic separation where the ability of a seed to hold a surface charge is determined mainly by its conductivity. 

Appert, J. (1987). The storage of food grains and seeds. Macmillan. London, 146 pp, ISBN... 

Animals were taken from a laboratory stock derived from 5 pairs of breeders captured in northeastern Mongolia in 1985. Breeding pairs 5 to 8 months old were kept in 20 X 40 X 25 cm glass terraria. All animals were provided with fresh grains and seeds, vegetables, fish and beef ad libitum. Shaved wood chips served as bedding. The colony was maintained on 14L 10D light cycle at 20 2 °C. 

Essential nutrient elements snch as Cu, Fe and Mn can be successfully incorporated into slowly soluble phosphate glass pellets, and fed to ruminant animals (Section 12.9). The glass pellet stays lodged in the rumen for several months where it supplies the nutrient elements [12]. Phospholipids are incorporated in some formnlations to improve animal metabolism. Phosphorus compounds are sometimes added to commercial prodncts for anti-microbial action or to increase their stability. Grains and seeds generally contain more P than hays and grasses, but in the former case much is present as phytic acid salts which are not easily nutritionally available. In some cases appropriate enzymes can be added to rectify this. 

Grains and seeds Low availability of phytin phosphorus in monogastrics Phytase... 

During crop gathering, some parts of Solanaceae plants may be occasionally included. A method for the simultaneous determination of tropine, atropine, scopolamine, homatropine, anisodamine, a-solanine, and a-chaconine in grains and seeds (wheat, rye, maize, soybean, linseed) has been reported by Jandric et al. [84]. The analytes were separated by isocratic HPLC on a Chirobiotic V column and detected by ESl-MS/MS detector operating in the MRM mode. The method performances were presented in terms of linearity in the range 5-80 ng g, specificity, selectivity, accuracy (recoveries from 61 % to 111 %), precision (CV <5 %), and ruggedness. The limits of quantitation (LOQ) were in the range 2.2-4.9 ng g . ... 

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