Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / P.V. Vara Prasad / Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is cultivated as an important food grain in the semi-arid regions of Africa. Processed grain sorghum is traditionally consumed as porridge, couscous, traditional tô or beer. The quality of such foods is highly dependent upon grain characteristics. Sorghum grain quality traits mainly include kernel hardness, kernel weight, kernel size, protein content and kernel color. Grain quality traits are often influenced by environment, genotypes, fertilizer management and their interaction. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of different levels of nitrogen application (0, 45, and 90 kg ha[superscript]-1) on grain quality of selected sorghum genotypes. The field experiment was conducted at three locations in 2010 (Manhattan, Ottawa, and Hays) and at two locations in 2011 (Manhattan and Ottawa). The experiment was laid in split plot randomized complete bloc design and replicated four times. The main plots were assigned to three N regimes: control (0 kg N ha[superscript]-1), half recommended rate (45 kg N ha[superscript]-1) and recommended rate (90 kg N ha[superscript]-1). The subplots were assigned to twelve genotypes (six hybrids and six inbred lines). Plot size was 6.1 m x 3.0 m with a row spacing of 0.75 m. After harvest, grain quality traits (hardness, weight, diameter and protein content) were evaluated using standard procedures and the data subjected to statistical design using SAS. There were significant effects of genotype for most grain quality traits across both locations in Manhattan. Inbred lines SC35 and SC599 had maximum hardness at all locations while hybrid 95207, had the lowest hardness for all locations. Also, Inbred lines SC35 and Tx340 had maximum protein content at all the locations. While hybrids 95207, 26056, 23012 had the lowest protein content. Genotypes Tx430, SC35, had higher hardness and with higher protein content were classified as high quality. We conclude that application of N (45 or 90 kg ha[superscript]-1) significantly improved grain protein, but not other quality traits. There are opportunities to improve grain protein through fertilizer management and plant breeding.

Disinfestation using microwaves can be an alternate to chemical methods of killing insects in grain. A pilot-scale industrial microwave dryer operating at 2.45 GHz was used to determine the mortality of life stages of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Sitophilus granarius (L.) and Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) adults in wheat, barley, and rye. Grain samples of 50 g each at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content were infested with stored-grain insects. The samples were then exposed to microwave energy at 200, 300, 400, and 500 W for exposure times of 28 and 56 s. Complete (100%) mortality was achieved for adults of three insect species at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s in barley and wheat. In rye, complete mortality of adult T. castaneum and S. granarius was achieved at 400 W, 28 s and at 300 W, 56 s whereas for C. ferrugineus, complete mortality was achieved at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s. The average temperature of wheat, barley, and rye at 500 W and 28 s was around 80, 71 and 82oC, respectively, and moisture loss was 2.0, 1.9 and 2.5 percentage points, respectively. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in wheat, eggs were the most susceptible followed by larvae, and the least susceptible were the pupae and adults. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in barley and rye, eggs were the most susceptible and adults were the least susceptible with no significant difference between pupae and larvae. There was no significant difference in the mortality of adults at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content barley and rye and the life stages of T. castaneum and S. granarius in rye. Germination of seeds decreased with an increase in power level or exposure time or both. There was no significant difference in the quality characteristics of microwave-heated wheat and rye except for reduced flour yield in rye. The quality of the barley treated at 500 W, 28 s was the same as the control, whereas, there was significant decrease in the quality of barley treated at 400 W, 56 s. / May 2009

Disinfestation using microwaves can be an alternate to chemical methods of killing insects in grain. A pilot-scale industrial microwave dryer operating at 2.45 GHz was used to determine the mortality of life stages of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Sitophilus granarius (L.) and Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) adults in wheat, barley, and rye. Grain samples of 50 g each at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content were infested with stored-grain insects. The samples were then exposed to microwave energy at 200, 300, 400, and 500 W for exposure times of 28 and 56 s. Complete (100%) mortality was achieved for adults of three insect species at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s in barley and wheat. In rye, complete mortality of adult T. castaneum and S. granarius was achieved at 400 W, 28 s and at 300 W, 56 s whereas for C. ferrugineus, complete mortality was achieved at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s. The average temperature of wheat, barley, and rye at 500 W and 28 s was around 80, 71 and 82oC, respectively, and moisture loss was 2.0, 1.9 and 2.5 percentage points, respectively. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in wheat, eggs were the most susceptible followed by larvae, and the least susceptible were the pupae and adults. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in barley and rye, eggs were the most susceptible and adults were the least susceptible with no significant difference between pupae and larvae. There was no significant difference in the mortality of adults at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content barley and rye and the life stages of T. castaneum and S. granarius in rye. Germination of seeds decreased with an increase in power level or exposure time or both. There was no significant difference in the quality characteristics of microwave-heated wheat and rye except for reduced flour yield in rye. The quality of the barley treated at 500 W, 28 s was the same as the control, whereas, there was significant decrease in the quality of barley treated at 400 W, 56 s.

Disinfestation using microwaves can be an alternate to chemical methods of killing insects in grain. A pilot-scale industrial microwave dryer operating at 2.45 GHz was used to determine the mortality of life stages of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Sitophilus granarius (L.) and Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) adults in wheat, barley, and rye. Grain samples of 50 g each at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content were infested with stored-grain insects. The samples were then exposed to microwave energy at 200, 300, 400, and 500 W for exposure times of 28 and 56 s. Complete (100%) mortality was achieved for adults of three insect species at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s in barley and wheat. In rye, complete mortality of adult T. castaneum and S. granarius was achieved at 400 W, 28 s and at 300 W, 56 s whereas for C. ferrugineus, complete mortality was achieved at 500 W, 28 s and at 400 W, 56 s. The average temperature of wheat, barley, and rye at 500 W and 28 s was around 80, 71 and 82oC, respectively, and moisture loss was 2.0, 1.9 and 2.5 percentage points, respectively. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in wheat, eggs were the most susceptible followed by larvae, and the least susceptible were the pupae and adults. Among the life stages of T. castaneum in barley and rye, eggs were the most susceptible and adults were the least susceptible with no significant difference between pupae and larvae. There was no significant difference in the mortality of adults at 14, 16, and 18% moisture content barley and rye and the life stages of T. castaneum and S. granarius in rye. Germination of seeds decreased with an increase in power level or exposure time or both. There was no significant difference in the quality characteristics of microwave-heated wheat and rye except for reduced flour yield in rye. The quality of the barley treated at 500 W, 28 s was the same as the control, whereas, there was significant decrease in the quality of barley treated at 400 W, 56 s.

The official U.S. standards for corn have been available for almost one hundred years. Corn grading system has been gradually updated over the years. In this thesis, we investigated a fast corn grading system, which includes the mechanical part and the computer recognition part. The mechanical system can deliver the corn kernels onto the display plate. For the computer recognition algorithms, we extracted common features from each corn kernel, and classified them to measure the grain quality.

The work presented here explores the effect of storage on chemical and other characteristics of dry, free of added chemicals and pest-free barley and canola grain. This was achieved by measuring the changes in a number of variables of grain stored at different temperatures under laboratory conditions and in commercial storage. The following measurements were carried out: Viability, moisture contents (mc), oil contents (oc), whole grain colour, spectrophotometry of grain extracts, hydroxy methyl furaldehyde (HMF), changes in storage atmospheres, organic sulphide levels, tocol concentrations (vitamin E), Iodine Value (IV), Thiocyanogen Value (TV), Peroxide Value (PV), p-Anisidine Value (p-AV) and Acid Value (AV). The mc of canola and barley were within the range considered safe for storage. Oil content of canola did not change significantly with storage. Viability of canola stored at 4 and 25 °C did not change noticeably, but higher storage temperatures resulted in seed death. Barley maintained high viabilities at low temperatures, but was more susceptible to high temperatures than canola. Colour changes of whole barley grain in storage were pronounced and temperature dependent. Colorimetry of whole barley grain showed potential as a tool for monitoring quality changes in storage. Absorption spectra of grain extracts reflected chemical and physiological changes in storage. HMF, an indicator of Maillard browning, accumulated in short to medium term storage at 45°C and in long term storage at 25 and 35°C. Measurement of HMF was considered useful for monitoring quality changes of stored cereal grain. In a study of storage atmospheres, changes in the concentrations of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, carbon disulphide and carbonyl sulphide were shown to be useful indicators of quality loss of grain in storage. Gas concentrations usually depended on storage temperature and time and reflected the storage history of the commodity. They indicated loss of carbohydrates and lipids by respiration, oxidative damage and deterioration of sulphur containing amino acids and other compounds. Oil quality indicators were consistent with oxidative damage to canola lipids in storage. IV, TV, and p-AV of canola oil did not correlate with quality of commercial samples. However, a relationship between increases in PV and high storage temperatures in canola was shown and AV increased in storage dependent on storage temperature and time. In barley and canola, the concentration of anti-oxidant tocol species (vitamin E) decreased at 35 and 45°C storage dependent on storage time. The overall tocol content as well as vitamin E activity decreased with storage decreasing the nutritional value of the commodities and indicating oxidative damage to lipids. It was concluded that the storage of dry, pest-free whole barley and canola grain at moderate temperatures (25-45°C) resulted in chemical and other changes. The consequence of these changes was a measurable reduction in the freshness of grain relevant to the nutritional, food technological and commercial quality of grain.

No description available.

Wheat grain quality is defined by several parameters, of which insect and fungal damage and sprouting are considered important degrading factors. At present, Canadian wheat is inspected and graded manually by Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) inspectors at grain handling facilities or in the CGC laboratories. Visual inspection methods are time consuming, less efficient, subjective, and require experienced personnel. Therefore, an alternative, rapid, objective, accurate, and cost effective technique is needed for grain quality monitoring in real-time which can potentially assist or replace the manual inspection process. Insect-damaged wheat samples by the species of rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica), rusty grain beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus), and red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum); fungal-damaged wheat samples by the species of storage fungi namely Penicillium spp., Aspergillus glaucus, and Aspergillus niger; and artificially sprouted wheat kernels were obtained from the Cereal Research Centre (CRC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Winnipeg, Canada. Field damaged sprouted (midge-damaged) wheat kernels were procured from five growing locations across western Canada. Healthy and damaged wheat kernels were imaged using a long-wave near-infrared (LWNIR) and a short-wave near-infrared (SWNIR) hypersprctral imaging systems and an area scan color camera. The acquired images were stored for processing, feature extraction, and algorithm development. The LWNIR classified 85-100% healthy and insect-damaged, 95-100% healthy and fungal-infected, and 85-100% healthy and sprouted/midge-damaged kernels. The SWNIR classified 92.7-100%, 96-100% and 93.3-98.7% insect, fungal, and midge-damaged kernels, respectively (up to 28% false positive error). Color imaging correctly classified 93.7-99.3%, 98-100% and 94-99.7% insect, fungal, and midge-damaged kernels, respectively (up to 26% false positive error). Combined the SWNIR features with top color image features correctly classified 91-100%, 99-100% and 95-99.3% insect, fungal, and midge- damaged kernels, respectively with only less than 4% false positive error.

Wheat grain quality is defined by several parameters, of which insect and fungal damage and sprouting are considered important degrading factors. At present, Canadian wheat is inspected and graded manually by Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) inspectors at grain handling facilities or in the CGC laboratories. Visual inspection methods are time consuming, less efficient, subjective, and require experienced personnel. Therefore, an alternative, rapid, objective, accurate, and cost effective technique is needed for grain quality monitoring in real-time which can potentially assist or replace the manual inspection process. Insect-damaged wheat samples by the species of rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica), rusty grain beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus), and red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum); fungal-damaged wheat samples by the species of storage fungi namely Penicillium spp., Aspergillus glaucus, and Aspergillus niger; and artificially sprouted wheat kernels were obtained from the Cereal Research Centre (CRC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Winnipeg, Canada. Field damaged sprouted (midge-damaged) wheat kernels were procured from five growing locations across western Canada. Healthy and damaged wheat kernels were imaged using a long-wave near-infrared (LWNIR) and a short-wave near-infrared (SWNIR) hypersprctral imaging systems and an area scan color camera. The acquired images were stored for processing, feature extraction, and algorithm development. The LWNIR classified 85-100% healthy and insect-damaged, 95-100% healthy and fungal-infected, and 85-100% healthy and sprouted/midge-damaged kernels. The SWNIR classified 92.7-100%, 96-100% and 93.3-98.7% insect, fungal, and midge-damaged kernels, respectively (up to 28% false positive error). Color imaging correctly classified 93.7-99.3%, 98-100% and 94-99.7% insect, fungal, and midge-damaged kernels, respectively (up to 26% false positive error). Combined the SWNIR features with top color image features correctly classified 91-100%, 99-100% and 95-99.3% insect, fungal, and midge- damaged kernels, respectively with only less than 4% false positive error.

It may be possible to tailor crop management to encourage diverse soil microbial communities and beneficial microorganisms, and produce high quality food products. Studies were carried out in 2005-2007 to evaluate the impact of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar choice and crop polycultures on soil microbial communities in organic and conventional systems, and subsequent wheat quality. Five wheat cultivars were grown organically and conventionally to evaluate grain breadmaking quality and micronutrient content and their impact on the soil microbial community. Organic grain yields were roughly half of conventional yields, but quality levels were all acceptable for Canadian Western Hard Red Spring wheat. Measured soil (0-15 cm) microbial profiles (by phospholipid fatty acid analysis) differed between the two management systems, and amongst cultivars in the conventional system. The most recent cultivar in the study, AC Superb, exhibited the highest levels of fungi suggesting that breeding efforts in conventionally managed environments may have resulted in cultivating mycorrhizal dependence in that environment. In general, many of the studied grain micronutrients were greater in the organically grown wheat system, possibly due in part to decreased grain yield and smaller grain size. Maximizing grain micronutrient content through wheat cultivar choice was dependent on management system. The presence of fungi biomarkers appears to have improved uptake of Mn and Cu. Monocultures and polycultures of common annual crops were grown organically and conventionally in 2006-2007. Intercrops exhibited an ability to overyield in an organic system, largely through weed suppression, but intercrops also overyielded in a conventional system where weeds were controlled through herbicides. As intercrop complexity decreased, the instances of improved weed suppression declined. Management systems and wheat cultivars can alter the composition of the soil microbial community. Annual crop polycultures did not alter soil microbial communities in this study, but showed evidence of agronomic benefits in both organic and conventional systems. / Plant Science