Drying and intermittence processes on the polished and brown rice physicochemical and morphological quality by near-infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy.

In this study was correlate the effects of drying time and intermittence of paddy rice on the physical, physicochemical, and morphological quality of polished and brown rice using near-infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Rice grain batches from mechanized harvesting with moisture contents between 24 and 20% (w.b.) were immediately subjected to drying and intermittence (average temperature of the grain mass of 40 °C) for a time of 14 h (number of times that the product underwent the drying and intermittence processes). For each drying time, grain sampling was performed to evaluate the physical quality of paddy rice and the physicochemical and morphological quality of polished and brown rice. The accumulated drying time provided an increase in the temperature of the grain mass, altering the physicochemical and morphological quality of polished and brown rice. The intermittence process did not contribute for the quality of the polished rice.

Image processing to identify damage to soybean seeds / Processamento de imagens para identificação de danos causados em sementes de soja

ABSTRACT: In Brazil and worldwide, commercialization of soybeans is of great importance to the economy, making their quality considered. The presence of damaged soybean seeds decreases the added value of the product. Businesses need fast and effective techniques to maintain the quality. The present research aimed to identify, through image processing, damage caused to soybean seeds, namely the presence of greenish seeds and wrinkled seeds due to variations of humidity and temperature, where it was possible to identify greenish and wrinkled soybean seeds from images. Results obtained for greenish seeds indicated that the red color scale is the most suitable for selection due to its more significant variation compared to the other color scales. For the separation of wrinkled seeds, it can be stated that it is possible to find a selection parameter with 74.3% accuracy in removing seeds with medium to high degrees of wrinkle damage.

RESUMO: No Brasil e no mundo, a comercialização da soja é de grande importância para a economia, sendo considerada sua qualidade. A presença de sementes danificadas de soja diminui o valor agregado do produto. As empresas precisam de técnicas rápidas e eficazes para manter a qualidade. O presente trabalho visa identificar, através do processamento de imagens, danos causados em sementes de soja, sendo eles: a presença de sementes esverdeadas e sementes enrugadas devido às variações de umidade e temperatura. Os resultados obtidos para sementes esverdeadas indicaram que a escala de cor vermelha é a mais adequada para seleção devido a sua variação mais significativa em relação às demais escalas de cores. Para a separação de sementes enrugadas, pode-se afirmar que é possível encontrar um parâmetro de seleção com 74,3% de acerto na remoção de sementes com médio a alto grau de danos por enrugamento.

Influences of drying temperature and storage conditions for preserving the quality of maize postharvest on laboratory and field scales.

Drying and storage methods are fundamental for maintaining the grain quality until processing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the associations of the drying temperature with storage systems and conditions as a strategy for preserving the quality of maize grain postharvest on laboratory and field scales. An increase in temperature accelerated the reduction in grain moisture, but increased the deterioration. The wetting during the storage period reduced the grain quality. Hermetic and aerated storage systems maintained the chemical quality of the grains. The control with healthy and whole corn dried at 80 °C and stored in silos with natural aeration provided a satisfactory quality, equivalent to those of controlled drying and storage under airtight conditions and at low temperatures. Different conditions of drying and storage of corn on the laboratory and field scales were evaluated, which provides an appropriate management of these operations to maintain the grain quality.