Percentage Of Kernels Research Articles

Morphological, mechanical and antioxidant properties of Portuguese almond cultivars.

The aim of this study was to evaluate morphological (of fruit and kernel), mechanical (namely shell rupture force) and antioxidant properties (including phenolics and flavonoid content) of five Portuguese almond cultivars, comparing them with two commercial cultivars (Glorieta and Ferragnès). Of the analyzed traits, nut and kernel dimensions varied substantially and were used to describe cultivars. However, some traditional cultivars recorded similar (Pegarinhos), or even higher (Amendoão, Casanova and Refêgo) nut and kernel weight than commercial cultivars. Furthermore, shelling percentage of traditional cultivar (Bonita) was higher than commercial cultivars. Rupture force necessary to break fruits of all traditional cultivars was higher than commercial ones, and was correlated to nut weight cultivars. The phenolics, flavonoids content and antioxidants were higher for Casanova. Parameters like high kernel weight, low percentages of double kernels or losses during shelling and considerable higher phenolics and flavonoids content may be considered by industry during selection of almond.

Influence of commodity on the population growth of the larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae)

In this study, we compared different amylaceous commodities for their suitability for population growth of the larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae), which is an important pest of stored maize in the tropics. In this context, we conducted three different series of tests. In the first test, we compared whole grains: whole barley, peeled barley, maize, whole oats, peeled oats, peeled rice, rough rice, rye, triticale, and wheat. Only maize was found suitable for P. trunctatus to reproduce and significantly increase its population, but there were certain commodities where surviving adults were found. In the second series of tests, we evaluated the percentage of cracked maize kernels on P. truncatus population growth. In this test, we found that the numbers of alive P. truncatus adults in the vials that contained 100% cracked kernels was higher than these with lower percentages of cracked kernels (5–50%) or no cracked kernels (0%). Finally, in the third series of tests, we compared eleven different types of amylaceous commodities with maize. These commodities were: whole maize (whole kernels), whole oat flakes, maize flour, whole barley flour, pasta, white soft wheat flour, whole soft wheat flour, white hard wheat flour, whole hard wheat flour, whole rye flour, and semolina. The results indicated that only whole maize and maize flour were suitable for P. truncatus population growth. Nevertheless, in some of the other commodities tested, there was a low number of adults and immatures that were able to survive 60 days after the incorporation of the parental adults. The results of the present study indicate that from the commodity range tested here, only maize was suitable for P. truncatus population growth. Nevertheless, the marginal numbers of surviving individuals in the non-maize commodities and the role of these substrates as potential “non-preferred food vehicles” that may contribute to further spread of this species should be tested in more detail.

Water sorption and cooking time of red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): part I – Effect of freezing and drying conditions on water sorption and cooking time

AbstractWater sorption and cooking time of kidney beans were determined. The beans were manually harvested at 19.2 ± 0.1% moisture content and stored at −20 and −10 °C for about half a year. The beans were further dried at 30, 40 and 50 °C inside a thin‐layer drier for 7.5 h or under room conditions for 4 week. The freezing storage temperature before the beans were dried did not influence their cooking time and water sorption. The saturated kernel volumes decreased approximately 7% after drying. The beans decreased their sphericity during water sorption and had a larger swelling ratio in the thickness direction than in other directions. Lower initial moisture content, especially with a higher drying temperature, decreased water sorptivity and resulted in higher percentage of uncooked kernels if the beans were not soaked before cooking. However, there was no relationship between initial moisture content and uncooked percentage if the beans were soaked before cooking. High drying temperature resulted in hard‐to‐cook (HTC) phenomenon.

Genetic diversity of American hazelnut in the Upper Midwest, USA

World hazelnut production is based on European hazelnut (Corylus avellana) and is limited by the narrow climatic requirements of this species. The cold hardiness and disease resistance of the American hazelnut (Corylus americana) offer opportunities to expand production to new areas including the Upper Midwest (USA). The American hazelnut is a phenotypically diverse species. This study used ten microsatellite marker loci to investigate genetic diversity in 1140 individuals sampled from 25 populations across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota. Overall, the marker loci were highly polymorphic (Ho = 0.69, He = 0.78, PIC = 0.84) with 7–13 alleles per locus. There was very high genetic diversity within populations (90% of the total) and some tendency toward population differentiation. Mantel’s test showed that genetic distance among the populations was not correlated with geographic distance. We conclude that selection of individuals for use in breeding should be based primarily on phenotype (productivity, nut size, percent kernel, ease of harvest), with care to include representatives of genetically differentiated populations.

Evaluation of a durum wheat selection scheme under Mediterranean conditions: adjusting trial locations and replications

The effectiveness of a cultivar evaluation scheme is impeded by the cost of experimentation. The aim of this study was to explore whether the locations employed in durum wheat evaluation program in Greece constituted a mega-environment (ME) and to adjust the number of trial replications and locations for realizing an optimum heritability (H) of 0.75. The analysis was conducted for grain yield (GY), agronomic and quality parameters in a 10-year (2002–2011) dataset and included a variable across years, number of genotypes and locations. The GGE biplot analyses revealed that trial locations can be considered as a single, complex ME. The existence of the ME was also confirmed by the high H across locations. The number of replications and locations for realizing an optimum H for GY was five replications compared to the four currently used, and five locations in lieu of 3–4 now tested. Plant height in March, final plant height and days to heading required three replications and four locations, winter frost three and five, powdery mildew three and seven, stem rust five and nine, whereas lodging 10 replications and 10 locations, respectively. Regarding quality, thousand-kernel weight required four replications and three locations, whereas vitreous kernel percentage six and eight, grain protein concentration four and seven, black point percentage 17 replications and was of zero H across locations. Finally, for the traits assessed only across locations, ash content required seven, wet gluten content five while gluten index and β-carotene three locations.

Diallel analysis of resistance to Fusarium ear rot in Brazilian popcorn genotypes

Among the ear rot pathogens, species of Fusarium cause significant economic losses to popcorn production. To generate popcorn genotypes resistant to Fusarium ear rot, the combining ability of popcorn lines in diallel crosses were assessed during two cropping years: the first from Mar to Sep 2015 and the second from Sep 2015 to Jan 2016. The traits analyzed were: average ear weight (AEW, kg ha−1); grain yield (GY, kg ha−1); popping expansion (PE, g mL−1), Fusarium incidence on ears (EIFU, %); Fusarium ear rot severity index (FSI, %), percentage of fungal-infected kernels (KIF), and percentage of Fusarium-infected kernels (KIFU). Non-additive genetic effects prevailed in the expression of resistance to Fusarium ear rot and grain yield, while additive effects were the most prominent in the expression of popping expansion. Among 56 hybrids, seven showed outstanding grain yield, desirable popping expansion, and resistance to Fusarium ear rot. The less susceptible hybrids to ear rot produced high grain yield and popping expansion. Two disease-related traits, KIFu and EIFu, allowed to best differentiate among the genotypes.

Seed morphology, oil content and fatty acid composition variability assessment in yellow horn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge) germplasm for optimum biodiesel production

Yellow horn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge) seed oil methyl esters have emerged as the potential candidate for producing biodiesel. The present study was conducted on 15 yellow horn germplasm accessions to assess the variability in its seed morphological characteristic, oil content and fatty acid composition. Variations of seed dry biomass, seed coat weight, kernel dry biomass, seed length, seed breadth and seed thickness were significant (P<0.01). These yellow horn accessions were mainly divided into two groups according to kernel percentage. One group mainly included XS-233 and XS-281 with heavy kernels, while the other was the rest of the yellow horn accessions with heavy seed coats. Wide variability in oil content (49.77%–68.30%) was observed among the 15 accessions. Oil content showed a negative correlation with seed coat weight (r=−0.519*). The palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), eicosenoic acid (C20:1) and erucic acid (C22:1) were the predominant fatty acids in the 15 yellow horn accessions. Meanwhile, a small amount of docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6) (0.33%) was detected in XS-272 accession. Iodine value, cetane number, density and kinematic viscosity of yellow horn methyl esters changed from 119.1 to 125.6, 46.0–47.6, 881.3–882.3 and 4.50–4.66, respectively. Accessions XS-202 and XS-253 were found most suitable for breeding as biodiesel genotypes. And accessions XS-203, XS-213, XS-222, XS-232, XS-271 and XS-281 may be preserved as potential biodiesel types. Such assessment can be utilized for yellow horn plantations established with promising genotypes.

THE EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRICE AND QUALITY OF RICE AT MARKET LEVEL IN WEST JAVA

Rice consumers in Indonesia exhibit wide preference variability and consumption patterns, largely because of the archipelagic nature of the country. Nowadays, the consumers become more discriminating on the rice quality due to the higher incomes and better life. Consumers are willing to pay higher price for specific quality. The objective of the study was to analyze relationship between price and grades of rice and consumer preference. The study was based on survey conducted from April 2004 to March 2005 at three-rice market centers representing a village market (Pasar Inpres) in Subang, district capital market (Pasar Johar) in Karawang, and rice center market (Pasar Induk Cipinang) in Jakarta, respectively. Parameters evaluated were changes in the quality and price of rice over time. The quality of the rice at each market was sampled monthly from two traders consisting three samples each. The rice quality was graded using existing local standar, i.e. grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, and the price of each grade was recorded. The physical qualities of the rice samples such as moisture content, grain dimensions, percentage of whole kernels, grain color, and impurities/dockage (foreign matters, unhulled grains, and milled rice) were determined by ISO 950:1979 (for cereals-sampling as grain). Whereas the chemical qualities such as amylose and gelatinization were analyzed using Rapid Visco Analisis. The study showed that rice quality varied, most of them were long and slender kernels, chalkiness ranged between 10-20% (scale 5), and head rice around 69-84%. The amylose content was intermediate (20-21%), the gelatinization temperature was high-intermediate (70-74oC), and the gel consistency was soft (65-70). The quality incentive, defined as the additional return assuming the quality level can be raised from grade 3 to grade 1, was up to Rp700 kg-1 (~25%). The price difference among markets could reach Rp630 kg-1 (~22%). The study indicated that rice color was the important parameter determining consumers’ preference, and consequently ditermining price difference. The correlation between the rice price and its grade was significant (R= 0.95).

THE EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRICE AND QUALITY OF RICE AT MARKET LEVEL IN WEST JAVA

Rice consumers in Indonesia exhibit wide preference variability and consumption patterns, largely because of the archipelagic nature of the country. Nowadays, the consumers become more discriminating on the rice quality due to the higher incomes and better life. Consumers are willing to pay higher price for specific quality. The objective of the study was to analyze relationship between price and grades of rice and consumer preference. The study was based on survey conducted from April 2004 to March 2005 at three-rice market centers representing a village market (Pasar Inpres) in Subang, district capital market (Pasar Johar) in Karawang, and rice center market (Pasar Induk Cipinang) in Jakarta, respectively. Parameters evaluated were changes in the quality and price of rice over time. The quality of the rice at each market was sampled monthly from two traders consisting three samples each. The rice quality was graded using existing local standar, i.e. grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, and the price of each grade was recorded. The physical qualities of the rice samples such as moisture content, grain dimensions, percentage of whole kernels, grain color, and impurities/dockage (foreign matters, unhulled grains, and milled rice) were determined by ISO 950:1979 (for cereals-sampling as grain). Whereas the chemical qualities such as amylose and gelatinization were analyzed using Rapid Visco Analisis. The study showed that rice quality varied, most of them were long and slender kernels, chalkiness ranged between 10-20% (scale 5), and head rice around 69-84%. The amylose content was intermediate (20-21%), the gelatinization temperature was high-intermediate (70-74oC), and the gel consistency was soft (65-70). The quality incentive, defined as the additional return assuming the quality level can be raised from grade 3 to grade 1, was up to Rp700 kg-1 (~25%). The price difference among markets could reach Rp630 kg-1 (~22%). The study indicated that rice color was the important parameter determining consumers’ preference, and consequently ditermining price difference. The correlation between the rice price and its grade was significant (R= 0.95).

Ultrasound-assisted fluidized bed drying of paddy: Energy consumption and rice quality aspects

ABSTRACTSeveral studies have been conducted on equipping conventional fluidized bed with some technologies to increase drying efficiency and its performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of high-power ultrasound (HPU) on fluidized bed drying of paddy in terms of drying kinetics, grain quality (percentage of cracked kernels and bending strength of grain kernels), and specific energy consumption (SEC). To decrease the initial moisture content of paddy from 26.5 ± 0.5% (kg/kg, d.b) to the final moisture content of 13 ± 0.5% (kg/kg, d.b), the experiments were conducted in a factorial design at three levels of ultrasound power densities (11.1, 14.6, and 18.7 kW/m3), four levels of frequencies (20, 25, 28, and 30 kHz), and three levels of drying air temperatures (30, 40, and 50°C). Application of HPU in conjunction with conventional fluidized bed drying led in 23% decrease in drying time as well as improvement in grain quality, in terms of percentage of cracked kernels and bending strengths. In addition, SEC reduced approximately by 22%, as HPU applied at selected drying condition.

Harvest date modifies seed quality and oil composition of Jatropha curcas growth under subtropical conditions in Argentina

One of the most currently promoted new crops for biodiesel productions the perennial species Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) due to its promising high seed yields with high oil concentrations (33–39%) and oil quality that reaching the international biodiesel standards. Although there have been different evaluations of genotypes growing under the same environmental conditions, revealing great variability for seed and oil quality, no reports are available about the effect environmental conditions during grain filling over such traits.The objectives of this work were to determine (i) the effect of harvest dates on seed quality and oil concentration, (ii) if such changes can be explained by the average temperature during grain filling and (iii) how harvest dates could affect biodiesel quality. An experiment was carried out during 29 months in experimental plots located in Formosa, Argentina. A systematic fruit harvest was conducted during 15 different dates on 10 plants with similar height (≈1.80m). Environmental conditions during the experiment were appropriate to create a broad individual seed weight range (326–752mg) and significant differences were found among harvest dates. Seed oil concentrations were significantly different among harvest dates with a maximum value of 38.7±0.6% on 08 August 2011 and a minimum of 19.6±1.8% on 17 March 2010. Oil concentration increased linearly as seed weight increased up to a value of 605mg, after which higher seed weight was not associated with greater seed oil concentration. Oil concentration was largely (r2=0.85) explained by the kernel percentage through a linear regression (y=−25.9+0.967x). Variations in seed weight and oil concentration were not associated with changes in average temperature during grain filling, suggesting that fluctuations in the source-sink relation through the growing season could explain the variations found among harvest dates. Temperature during seed filling period strongly affected oil composition and higher temperatures were associated with higher oleic acid and lower linoleic acid concentrations, although this effect generated only small effects on the biodiesel quality. Environmental conditions during grain filling modified seed quality and oil composition, while its concentration was not affected. This work reveals the existence of harvest dates effects on seed quality and oil concentration, although unrelated with the environmental conditions explored during grain filling period.

Fabrication, performance evaluation and optimization of Sal (shorea robusta) seed decorticator

AbstractSal (Shorea robusta) seed is a nontimber forest product, mainly processed for its oil. This oil is used in various food and nonfood industries. Prior to extraction of oil, sal seeds are manually broken to obtain sal kernel. This traditional manual de‐shelling process is very tedious, time consuming and unhygienic. Hence, in this research, a sal seed decorticator was designed, fabricated and its performance was evaluated. The performance parameters of the machine were tested with varying moisture content from 10.49% to 21.95% (d.b) and different concave clearance varying from 10 mm to 19 mm. The decorticating efficiency, machine efficiency, and kernel percentage were found to have a maximum value of 99.15 0.04%, 93.62 0.87%, and 62.71 1.73%, respectively at 13.63% (d.b) moisture content and 13 mm concave clearance. Results were fitted in response surface methodology to optimize the parameters and to find the level of significance between the independent and dependent variables.Practical applicationsA sal seed decorticator was developed based on physical and mechanical properties of sal seed. The developed machine is designed to run by manpower (manually operated) which can be suitable for hilly and forest region. This decorticator can be used to decorticate sal seeds to get sal kernels. At a seed moisture content of 13.63% (d.b.), the decorticator yields 62.71% of kernels (machine efficiency of 93.62%). These kernels are processed for extraction of oil. This machine is very useful for rural people, farmers and small‐scale industries for post‐harvest processing of sal seeds.

Pre-harvest silk treatment with Trichoderma harzianum reduces aflatoxin contamination in sweetcorn

One of the most promising management tools to reduce mycotoxins in food and feed is the pre-harvest biological control of mycotoxigenic fungi using microbes. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate the potential of a stain of Trichoderma harzianum, T77, for control of Aspergillus flavus on sweetcorn. Under greenhouse and field conditions, T. harzianum was applied as a pre-harvest spray treatment to silks of sweetcorn plants at 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days post-midsilk. Toxigenic A. flavus was spray inoculated as a conidial suspension (103 spores ml−1) onto silks at 2, 4, 7, 9, 11 and 13 days post-midsilk. Percentage kernel infection, disease ratings, ELISA and HPLC analyses were used to quantify A. flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination. There was a significant reduction in toxigenic A. flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination after silk spray treatments with T77 at 10 and 12 days post-midsilk. In vitro dual culture bioassays and ultrastructural studies using environmental scanning electron microscopy revealed antibiosis and mycoparasitism are the probable modes of action. It thus can be seen that pre-harvest spray treatment of sweetcorn at the silk growth stage can reduce the level of A. flavus contamination of grain. An integrated approach consisting pre-harvest biological control using selected strains of T. harzianum in conjunction with other post-harvest management strategies could reduce A. flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination in grain.

Direct Effect of cashew Nut Scarification Associated with Powdery Mildew in the Processing Industry

Cashew powdery mildew disease can reduce on field yield by 100% depending on flowers’ susceptibility. Surviving flowers may still produce nuts that are severely damaged. The impact of this, post-harvest, damage to the processing industry is unknown. Therefore the objective of this experiment was to assess the effect of powdery mildew nut scarification on biometric and industrial processing variables: nut size, weight, nut count, outturn, cutting and peeling time and finally analyze the financial implication of the effect. Thus, raw cashew nuts were randomly sampled and categorized in to five disease score levels (treatments). Ten nuts (replicates) were used for each disease category. Length, thickness, width and weight were measured. Furthermore, from each disease level, two sets of nuts were established. One set for nut count and outturn assessment by cutting test. The other set, for steam boiling, cutting, peeling and other processes quantitatively assessed. A completely randomized experimental design was followed for data analysis. The summary effect was assessed as relative loss in percentage to non diseased nuts. The relative maximum loss due to powdery mildew attack was 41.2% for nut length, 42.9% for nut width, 31.3% for nut thickness and 50% for nut weight. The disease severity increased relative nut count (18.9%) and reduced the total percentage of kernels (20.3%), outturn (21.1%), the industrial yield of white wholes (88.1%), amount of peels (27.6%) and the outturn and nut count based projected income by 9.6%. Three disease based nut categories are proposed for processing improvements. Nut scarification effect on kernel deterioration, seed germination and others is under investigation.

Pathogens incidence and quality of extracted crude oil from soybean seeds stored under different conditions

Objective of the present work to investigate the influence of different temperature conditions in the environ­ment and moisture content in the seeds over six months of storage on the incidence of fungi in soybean seeds, as well as the quality of the crude oil extracted from the seeds. Soybean seeds were used with initial moisture contents of 12.0; 13.0; and 14.0% (w.b.) which were placed in plastic bags of polypropylene, over a period of 180 days in two different environments: lab environment (uncontrolled conditions: 27 ± 0.6 °C), air-conditioned environment (20 ± 1.2 °C). The health of the seeds was evaluated by identifying and counting the percentage of infected kernels. For assessing the quality of crude oil extracted from the seeds were carried out oil content, acidity index and peroxide value. The experiment was a triple factorial 2 x 3 x 4, com­pletely randomized design with three replications. Soybean seeds, disinfected and not disinfected were ana­lyzed separately. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and regression, the means were compared using Tukey's test at 5% significance. The initial moisture content of 14.0% (w.b.) provides greater fungal incidence rate at the end of storage in soybean seeds not disinfected. The atmospheric temperature during storage interferes with the quality of the crude oil extracted from the soybean seeds. The temperature of 27 °C causes more increase in acid number soybean oil during storage.

Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping for Appearance Quality in Short‐Grain Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) appearance quality, as defined by both grain shape and lack of chalkiness, are key breeding goals throughout the world's rice‐producing areas. To understand the genetic effects on rice appearance quality, we grew a double‐haploid (DH) population derived from the cross between two short‐grain rice cultivars, japonica Chunjiang 06 (CJ06) and indica Taichung Native 1 (TN1), in both subtropical Hangzhou and tropical Hainan, China. Transgressive segregation was noted for all measured traits: grain length (GL), grain width (GW), length/width ratio (LW), percentage of kernels with chalk (CK), average chalk size (CS) per kernel, and chalkiness degree (CD, calculated as CK × CS). High positive correlations observed between the chalkiness measures (CK, CS, and CD) with GL and GW indicate that grain shape may have pleiotropic effects on grain chalkiness. Nineteen main‐effect QTL and nine epistatic interaction pairs were detected for grain chalkiness and shape. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were on all 12 chromosomes and explained 8.0 to 23.6% of the phenotypic variance observed under the two environments. One chalkiness QTL and one shape QTL had main effects in both locations. However, when epistasis was considered, seven of 10 identified main‐effect regions also had epistatic effect on either grain chalkiness or shape. This demonstrated that epistasis plays an important role in determining grain chalkiness, shape, and the association between chalkiness and shape. The identified QTL and epistatic interactions provide further understanding of the genetic basis of grain appearance quality and assistance in improving grain appearance quality of rice through breeding.

Analysis of deoxynivalenol and deoxynivalenol-3-glucosides content in Canadian spring wheat cultivars inoculated with Fusarium graminearum

ABSTRACTContamination of wheat grains with Fusarium mycotoxins and their modified forms is an important issue in wheat industry. The objective of this study was to analyse the deoxynivalenol (DON) and deoxynivalenol-3-glucosides (D3G) content in Canadian spring wheat cultivars grown in two locations, inoculated with a mixture of 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON)-producing Fusarium graminearum strains and a mixture of 15-acetlyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON)-producing F. graminearum strains. According to the analysis of variance, significant differences were observed among the cultivars for Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease index, Fusarium-damaged kernel percentage (%FDK), DON content and D3G content. When the effect of chemotype was considered, significant differences were observed for FHB disease index, FDK percentage and DON content. The D3G content and D3G/DON ratio were not significantly different between the chemotypes, except for D3G content at the Winnipeg location. The Pearson correlation coefficient between DON and D3G was 0.84 and 0.77 at Winnipeg and Carman respectively. The highest D3G/DON ratio was observed in cultivars Carberry (44%) in Carman and CDC Kernen (63.8%) in Winnipeg. The susceptible cultivars showed lower D3G/DON ratio compared with the cultivars rated as moderately resistant and intermediate. The current study indicated that Canadian spring cultivars produce D3G upon Fusarium infection.

Population growth of the khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on different commodities

We evaluated the population growth of the khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on different grains, cracked wheat containment categories and amylaceous materials by conducting three series of laboratory bioassays. In the first series, peeled barley, whole (raw) barley, peeled oats, whole (raw) oats, peeled rice, rough rice, rye, triticale and hard wheat were tested. In the second series, six cracked wheat containment categories were tested: wheat containing intact kernels only (0% cracked kernels), wheat containing 5% cracked kernels and 95% intact kernels, wheat containing 10% cracked kernels and 90% intact kernels, wheat containing 25% cracked kernels and 75% intact kernels, wheat containing 50% cracked kernels and 50% intact kernels and wheat containing 100% cracked kernels. In the third series, the following amylaceous commodities were tested: hard wheat (intact kernels), whole oat flakes, maize flour, whole barley flour, pasta, white soft wheat flour, whole soft wheat flour, white hard wheat flour, whole hard wheat flour, whole rye flour and semolina. Significantly more dead adults were found on wheat than on peeled barley, maize, whole oats, rough rice and rye. Significantly more larvae alive were found on wheat and triticale, than on the other grains, with the exception of oats, both whole and peeled. The increase of the percentage of cracked wheat kernels increased population growth, except in the case of 10% cracked wheat kernels. In vials that contained 100% cracked wheat kernels, 584.1 individuals per vial were found, which was 3.7 times more than the respective number of larvae alive in vials with intact wheat kernels only. Significantly more dead adults were found on whole barley flour than on the other commodities. More than 1213 larvae per vial were recorded on whole barley flour, which was 1.3–15 times higher than the other commodities. The lowest number of larvae alive was found on pasta, followed by the white soft wheat flour. The findings of the present work show that some commodities are more prone to spread T. granarium than others, a fact which should be seriously taken into account in international trade of grains and related amylaceous products.

KLASIFIKASI LEVEL KEMATANGAN BUAH TOMAT BERDASARKAN FITUR WARNA MENGGUNAKAN MULTI-SVM

Grouping of tomato maturity level is one way to pay attention to the quality of the tomatoes. The traditional way takes a long time and low accuracy, since the determination of the level of subjectively assessed. In addition, the importance of the classification of the level of maturity of tomatoes due to a period of tomato maturation process is relatively quick, so it can reduce the risk of rotting tomatoes. The dataset used in this study was 108 tomato image taken using three types of smartphones. The dataset is divided into 66 training data and testing the data 42. Improvements to the image preprocessing stage is done with adaptive histogram equalization and compared with the histogram equalization. In the feature extraction using color features of the R, G, and A *. The classification of the level of maturity of tomato is done by comparing the accuracy of using multi-SVM and KNN. In the Multi-SVM method using the highest percentage of kernel functions RBG is equal to 77.84%. While the method kNN highest percentage was 77.79% using a value of k = 3.

Design, development and performance evaluation of an automatic control system for rice whitening machine based on computer vision and fuzzy logic

The objective of this study was developing an intelligent automatic control system (ACS) based on machine vision and fuzzy logic techniques to control the performance of rice whitening machines. The developed ACS consisted of two main parts, namely hardware (including sampling unit, kernel singulation unit, image capturing unit, processor (computer), discharge pressure control unit and data acquisition unit), and software (including image processing, fuzzy inference and central control units). Two important qualitative indices, degree of milling and percentage of broken kernels, were considered as input variables and the level of pressure on the discharge section of the whitening machine was selected as the output variable in the fuzzy inference unit. Results of the evaluations indicated that the developed ACS had 89.2% accuracy in determining the desired working conditions for the whitening machine. The total time of each monitoring round was, on the average, equal to 14.73s, of which 6.4s was devoted to kernel sampling and transporting the samples into the imaging chamber, 7.33s for taking three images from the kernels, processing the captured images and executing the fuzzy inference process, and the remaining 1.5s for making the adjustments in the level of pressure in the mechanism. Based on this information and in contrast to the corresponding time spent by the human operator to perform a similar process, it was revealed that the performance speed of the ACS was, on average, 31.3% higher than that of the human operator. Evaluation of the samples obtained from the discharge section of the rice whitening machine at different stages of the control process showed that the decisions made by the developed ACS during the control process resulted in a satisfactory improvement in the quality of the output product.