Stanisław Grundas

Use of the electro-separation method for improvement of the utility value of winter rapeseeds

Abstract The paper presents the results of a study of the use of electro-separation methods for improvement of the utility value of 5 winter rapeseed cultivars. The process of electro-separation of rapeseed was conducted on a prototype apparatus built at the Laboratory of Application of Electro-technologies in Agriculture, Lviv National Agriculture University. The process facilitated separation of damaged, low quality seeds from the sowing material. The initial mean level of mechanically damaged seeds in the winter rapeseed cultivars studied varied within the range of 15.8-20.1%. Verification of the amount of seeds with mechanical damage was performed on X-ray images of seeds acquired by means of a digital X-ray apparatus. In the course of analysis of the X-ray images, it was noted that the mean level of mechanical damage to the seeds after the electro-separation was in the range of 2.1-3.8%. The application of the method of separation of rapeseeds in the corona discharge field yielded a significant reduction of the level of seeds with mechanical damage. The application of the method in practice may effectively contribute to improvement of the utility value of sowing material or seed material for production of edible oil.

Influence of Microwave Heating on Some Physicochemical Properties of Wheat Grain Harvested in Three Consecutive Years1

ABSTRACT Grain of winter wheat cv. Begra was investigated for changes in some physical and chemical properties resulting from direct influence of microwave heating on grain harvested in three subsequent generations of crops at Plant Breeding Station DANKO in Choryn, Poland. Wheat grain samples tested immediately after microwave treatment with the highest grain temperature at 79 and 98°C showed a statistically significant decrease in moisture content (MC), thousand kernel weight (TKW), single kernel weight (SKW), single kernel diameter (SKD), and hardness index (HI), with the exception of grain samples M-120 and M-180, respectively, where statistically significant increases in HI and SKD were observed. Indirect effect of microwaves caused statistically significant fluctuation of the total protein content (TPC), TKW, single kernel moisture content (SKM), HI, SKW, and SKD in all three wheat grain crops in relation to their control samples. This indicates that the studied physicochemical properties of grain w...

Changes in Microwave-Treated Wheat Grain Properties

The world faces the challenge of feeding, housing and clothing an everincreasing population. On 12 October 1999, the United Nations marked the birth of the six billionth human currently living on the planet (Morris et al., 2000). Throughout our history there has been an overall increase in food production through agricultural innovations including the efforts of plant breeders. Cereals play such an integral part in global agriculture and diet. More than 50% of our food comes from three cereals: wheat, maize and rice (Morris et al., 2000). An important step forward in the feeding of the world was the green revolution. Advances in plant breeding and the adoption of highly efficient production systems bring about of fourfold increase in grain yield during the second half of twentieth century. But a continued, sustainable increase will be hard to realize without introducing modern cereals biotechnology and strong determination towards limitation of cereals grain losses during shipment and storage. Pests are one of the most severe threat for food products, but often ignored by many manufactures. According to Codex Alimentarius monitoring as well as fighting pests in production process is essential to maintain safe food products. Wheat is the world’s most important crop species providing about one-third of the global production of cereals. Stored grain is vulnerable to damage caused by internal and external insects. About half of annual grain production requires storage (Grundas et al., 2008). Cereal grain losses caused by pests during storage can reach 50% of the total harvest in some developing countries, which leads to a world-wide loss equivalent to thousands of millions of euros per year (Fornal et al., 2007). Generally postharvest food losses are estimated to range from 8 to 10% in industrialized countries (Ciepielewska & Kordan, 2001; Brader et al., 2002). Insects are a problem in stored grain throughout the world because they reduce the quantity and quality of grain (Sinha & Watters, 1985; Madrid et al., 1990; Warchalewski & Gralik, 2010). Many chemical insecticides and fumigates are used as protectants against insect infestation in stored grains. But their indiscriminate use and residual toxicity effect the non-target animals and human beings

Evaluation of single-kernel density of scab-damaged winter wheat

Evaluation of single-kernel density of scab-damaged winter wheat Measurements of single-kernel mass and volume made on healthy (control) and scab-damaged samples of grain of three winter wheat varieties never resulted in lower values of mean single-kernel density for scab-damaged grain. This finding, contrary to common opinion, can be explained as being a result of the comparable magnitude of relative decrease (due to infestation) of two features (mass and volume) that define single-kernel density. The discrepancy between results presented in this paper (kernel volume was determined with an air pycnometer) and the results in some other reports (liquid pycnometers used) can result from the different methods applied for kernel volume measurements: when a liquid medium is used the surface tension effect tends to overestimate the volume, especially for scabby kernels that are known to be shrivelled ie possessing voids and pores at the surface that the liquid cannot penetrate. As a consequence kernel density of scabby kernels can be significantly underestimated.

Novel Agricultural Materials for Food and Feed. The Transgenic Crops: From Cereals to Potato

In agricultural production, seeds, tubers, and fruits are usually the most economically important part of the plant as well as central and essential source of food and feed. A prime objective of plant physiology and genetic research is therefore to maximize the harvest yield. Increases in the yield of crop species resulted mainly from changes in assimilation by reducing the growth of non-harvestable organs (Dejardin et al., 1997), in particular starch and protein - the main components of the seeds and tubers upon which nutritional and industrial application seem to be dependent. Only since the 1940’s have yields of plants breeding significantly increased, through the introduction of hybrid cereal seed, chemical inputs, mechanization, and improved breeding methods (Shulman, 1999). However the quality of harvested grain and/or tuber and their main storage component, i.e. starch and protein has not been greatly improved using only the above-mentioned methods. Bearing in mind a very complicated mechanism of biology as well as physiology of plant organs, the influence of the agricultural factors only on the yield and quality of plant components seems to be not enough. The techniques for alternation of the biosynthesis of plant components or the ones which are based on the regulatory process of the storage products must be applied for modification of plant and its properties and for better filling of human needs (Schulman, 1999).

Geometrical and friction properties of perennial grasses and their weeds in view of an electro-separation method

Abstract Many seed mixtures of herbs are difficult to separate. This is confirmed by studies determining the basic geometrical and friction properties of the seeds of perennial grasses and seeds of their weeds. The results show that in most cases the value of their geometrical parameters (length, thickness, and width) and friction properties (friction coefficients for different external surfaces of internal friction coefficients) are substantially similar and differ slightly among each other. This is the evidence that these properties are impractical to use in the process of separation as signs of divisibility. In the paper, a method for electro-separation of seed mixtures of herbs based on the use of complex physical, mechanical properties and electrical components in the separation are presented. The electric field that acts as an additional working body allows considering the surface conditions and biological status of seed mixtures of particles and significantly expands the functionality of the separators. Confirmation of the effectiveness of the proposed method for separation can be seen in the example of purification of red clover and sorrel seeds. By imposition of an electric field on an inclined moving separating plane, we can completely separate weed seeds from the main crop. The results confirm the effectiveness of the electro-separating method.