Academic literature on the topic 'Grain freshness'

Abstract It is assumed that close to the margins of ice-sheets, glacial, fluvial and aeolian processes overlap, and combined with weathering processes, produce numerous sediments, in which quartz is a common mineral. Quartz grains, if available, may serve as a powerful tool in determining the depositional history, transportation mode and postdepositional processes. However, quartz grain studies in some modern glacial areas are still sparse. In this study, we examine for the first time quartz grains sampled from the modern glacial and proglacial environments of the Russell Glacier, southwest Greenland in binocular microscope and scanning electron microscope, to analyze their shape, character of surface and microtextures. We debate whether the investigated quartz grains reveal glacial characteristics and to what extent they carry a signal of another transportation and sedimentary processes. Although glacial fracturing and abrasion occur in grain suites, most mechanical origin features are not of a high frequency or freshness, potentially suggesting a reduced shear stress in the glacier from its limited thickness and influence of the pressurized water at the ice-bed. In contrast, the signal that originates from the fluvial environment is much stronger derived by numerous aqueous-induced features present on quartz grain surfaces. Aeolian-induced microtextures on grain surfaces increase among the samples the closest to the ice margin, which may be due to enhanced aeolian activity, but are practically absent in sediments taken from the small scale aeolian landforms. In contrast, aeolian grains have been found in the bigger-size (1.0–2.0 mm) investigated fraction. These grains gained the strongest aeolian abrasion, possibly due to changes in transportation mode.

Introduction. The article deals with the results of the mycotoxicological analysis of feed samples of pond fish. There were found the T2-toxin and aflatoxins.The combined presence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and T2-toxin was found in all samples of fish feed. Was also studied the impact of combination of several mycotoxins on organoleptic and physico-chemical characteristics of fish carcasses. Fish, affected by mycotoxins, can be classified to the category of doubtful freshness. Materials and methods of research. The studies were conducted between May and October 2019. The investigated materials were a large number of grain and grain mixtures, for feeding fish in six ponds in Nikolaevska settlement community of Sumy region. Preparation of grain samples were made according resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, June 14, 2002, No. 833 «The order of the selection of samples animal, plant and biotechnological origin». The studies of the toxicity and persistent T2-toxin and full amount of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 are conducted on the basis of the Sumy Regional Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine. Feed toxicity was investigated by bioassay on the Tetrahymena piriformis infusorium used the DSTU 3570-97. The RIDASCREEN test systems were used to investigate the aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in grains and grain mixtures. Ichthyopathological studies were conducted in the department of Veterinary and Sanitary Examination, Microbiology, Zooghygiene, Safety and the Guality of Livestock Products of the Sumy National Agrarian University by the accepted methods. Results of research and discussion. In the territory of the Nikolaevska settlement community of Sumy region there are six ponds, in which hold fish, mainly crucian and carp. The fish are fed once a week. Feed mainly consists of grain waste (barley, wheat), which is supplied by local farmers. Food is stored in unsuitable premises. In the feed we noted the presence of remains of substandard grain, which was thrown out during separation. Grain samples are not sampled and laboratory tests are not carried out. The feed is shipped by transport to ponds, dumped from the shore into a pond, immersed in to the water, where consumed by the fish. Totaly 19 samples of feed were examined during this period. Organoleptic evaluation of grain and grain mixtures revealed that the color of the grain was natural, the smell of all the samples had a certain tinge of moldy-musty, some samples had signs of fermentation and mold. Aqueous solutions of the grain extracts and mixtures of the test samples caused a stopping of movement and death of all Tetrahymena piriformis infusions up to 60 minutes in 7 samples, that indicates the toxicity of these feeds. Low toxicity was detected in 11 samples of experimental feed. The absence of toxicity was evidenced by the activity of Tetrahymena piriformis infusoriums, which persisted for 1 hour after the action of aqueous extracts of the samples. The results of the determination of the toxicity of grain feed using infusorium Tetrahymena piriformis. To analyze the content of major mycotoxins was used competitive enzyme immunoassay. The RIDASCREEN FAST Aflatoxin test system and the RIDASCREEN FAST T-2 Toxin test system have a high sensitivity of 0.0017 mg / kg and 0.05 mg / kg, respectively, which made it possible to determine the content of T-2 toxin, the amounts of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in their lowest concentration. The results of analysis of feed samples using the amount of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 That in all samples of grain and grain mixtures was established the presence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2. In 7 samples its content exceeds the maximum permissible concentrations. In 10 samples, the combined presence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and T2-toxin was found, in 5 samples - exceeding the maximum levels. It is known that the combination of several mycotoxins can lead to their synergistic interaction, which will have a more pronounced toxic effect. Unfortunately, it was not possible to determine the maximum content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and T2-toxin, so further test kits with different reading ranges should be used, since highly sensitive mycotoxin detection kits make it impossible to determine up to 1 mg / kg. In the following research, we studied the chemical properties of fish meat: reaction to peroxidase (benzidine sample), amount of amino-ammonia nitrogen, reaction with copper sulfate, reaction with Eber reagent, determination of hydrogen sulfide, pH and reaction with Nesler reagent. When muscle is damaged by mycotoxin, the products protein breakdown appears, which promotes rapid breakdown of tissue elements and leads to rapid deterioration of fish. Analyzing changes in veterinary-sanitary and physico-chemical parameters of fish affected by mycotoxicosis, we can classify the affected fish in the category of doubtful freshness. Conclusions and prospects for further research. During the investigate of grain and grain mix for feeding pond fish it was found that 19 samples were highly toxic and 36.8% were law toxoc. 2. Using the competitive enzyme immunoassay the combined presence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and T2-toxin was found in all samples In 7 samples its content exceeds the maximum permissible concentrations. T2-toxin was found was found in 16 samples, and in 10 samples its content exceeds the maximum permissible concentrations. Fish affected by mycotoxins for organoleptic and physico-chemical characteristics can be classified to the category of doubtful freshness.

To establish the deadline for freshness and shelf life of wheat during long-term storage, the indicator is considered — acid number of fat (ANF) mg KOH per gram of fat in the stored grain sample. To study the nature of the change of this indicator from temperature and relative humidity of the air, the present studies were performed. Samples of grain, harvest 2017, were placed in a desiccator over salt solutions, which were used to set a certain relative air humidity above the surface of the solution in the range from 35% to 75%. In each desiccator were placed two samples of wheat grain III and IV class weighing about 500 g each. The grain layer in the desiccators was 70–80 mm. To monitor the state of the samples, the Logger 100 TV temperature and relative humidity recorders were placed inside the grain layer with a recording interval of readings after 2 hours. Periodically sampled grain from each desiccator for the determination of ANF and humidity. Acid number of fat was determined by the accepted standard method.The uniformity of humidity values in the desiccators 60% and 75% occurred after two months of storage. For a relative humidity of 35%, 44% arrived after approximately one month of storage. Some fluctuations in relative humidity values are associated with temperature changes at the storage location (laboratory room), as well as with the opening of a desiccator when taking grain samples to determine humidity and ANF. Fluctuations in relative humidity did not exceed 3%. Significant changes (growth) of ANF were observed in the fourth to fifth month of storage the samples at temperatures above 20 °C, at a storage temperature of 10 °C, practically no significant changes in ANF were observed during 9 months of storage.

The determination of food freshness along manufacturer-to-consumer transportation lines is a challenging problem that calls for cheap, simple, reliable, and nontoxic sensors inside food packaging. We present a novel approach for oxygen sensing in which the exposure time to oxygen—rather than the oxygen concentration per se—is monitored. We developed a nontoxic hybrid composite-based sensor consisting of graphite powder (conductive filler), clay (viscosity control filler) and linseed oil (the matrix). Upon exposure to oxygen, the insulating linseed oil is oxidized, leading to polymerization and shrinkage of the matrix and hence to an increase in the concentration of the electrically conductive graphite powder up to percolation, which serves as an indicator of food spoilage. In the developed sensor, the exposure time to oxygen (days to weeks) is obtained by measuring the electrical conductivity though the sensor. The sensor functionality could be tuned by changing the oil viscosity, the aspect ratio of the conductive filler, and/or the concentration of the clay, thereby adapting the sensor to monitoring the quality of food products with different sensitivities to oxygen exposure time (e.g., fish vs grain).

Задача производства экологически чистых продуктов питания стоит в ряду важнейших мировых проблем. Она обусловлена целым рядом вопросов медицинского, социального, экологического и экономического порядка, объединенных актуальностью сохранения здоровья населения. Решение задач обеспечения сохранности продовольственного зерна пшеницы может осуществляться не только на базе действующих нормативных правил, но и с учетом результатов новых исследований. Разработана методика определения норм свежести (безопасного хранения) и годности зернопродуктов по значению кислотного числа жира (КЧЖ). Огромное влияние на зерно оказывают микроорганизмы, при этом количество плесеней хранения не нормируется для продовольственного зерна. Учитывая, что в любой зерновой массе присутствуют микроорганизмы, которые при определенных условиях развиваются по экспоненциальной кривой, авторами статьи была экспериментально установлена зависимость изменения КЧЖ от микробиологического показателя. Приведены результаты изменения биохимических, физико-химических и микробиологических показателей качества продовольственного зерна пшеницы урожаев 2015 и 2018 гг. при длительном лабораторном хранении в условиях повышенных (+30 °С), умеренных (+20 °С) и пониженных (+10 °С) температур. Установлено, что при хранении продовольственного зерна пшеницы при различных влажностно-температурных режимах в течение 24 мес происходит линейное увеличение показателя КЧЖ. Хранение зерна происходило в лабораторных условиях, определена зависимость изменения КЧЖ от температуры хранения зерна, а также неизменность показателя от развития плесеней хранения, что свидетельствует о возможности использования этого показателя для установления объективных и достоверных сроков безопасного хранения и годности. The task of producing organic food is one of the most important global problems. It is due to a number of medical, social, environmental and economic issues, united by the relevance of preserving the health of the population. The solution of the problems of ensuring the safety of food grain of wheat can be carried out not only on the basis of the current regulatory rules, but also taking into account the results of new research. A method has been developed for determining the norms of freshness (safe storage) and the suitability of grain products by the value of fat acidity value indicator (FAV). Microorganisms have a huge impact on grain, while the number of storage molds is not standardized for food grain. Considering that in any grain mass there are microorganisms that, under certain conditions, develop along an exponential curve, the authors of the article experimentally established the dependence of the change in the FAV on the microbiological indicator. The results of changes of the biochemical, physico-chemical and microbiological indicators of the quality of wheat food grain of the 2015 and 2018 harvests were given during long-term laboratory storage in conditions of increased (+30 °C), medium (+20 °C) and reduced (+10 °C) temperature. It is established that during the storage of wheat food grain under various humidity and temperature conditions a linear increase of the FAV arises within 24 months, change dependency FAV on grain storage temperature and indicator permanence on storage mold development are determined, which indicates the possibility of using this indicator to establish objective and reliable terms of safe storage and validity. Grain storage took place in laboratory conditions.

Purpose China’s expanded rice imports offer a profitable business opportunity for both domestic and international grain marketers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of select variables on Chinese consumers’ rice choices, specifically focusing on country-of-origin, price, organic, brand, freshness, and taste. The study concludes with suggestions for domestic and international rice marketers to help them develop more efficient rice marketing plans. Design/methodology/approach This study developed a conditional logit model to analyze survey data gathered from Chongqing and Chengdu, two of China’s largest rice consumption cities. Findings Chinese consumers are price sensitive in their rice choices. Country-of-origin is the most imperative factor affecting rice selection for lower food expense consumers but branded rice attracts the attention of higher food expense consumers. Furthermore, these higher food expense consumers are willing to pay a small premium of $0.22 for a pound of organic rice. Research limitations/implications A general trend in demand for organic rice from higher food expense consumers was identified, and this trend predicts a profitable market for organic rice sellers. However, these research findings are geographically limited and may only represent a consumption trend from the two sampled cities rather than all of China. Originality/value The study concludes with meaningful recommendations to rice marketers to aid in developing profitable market entrance strategies to China.

Two experiments were carried out in order to study the effect of the ash content of poultry litter (PL) on its nutritional value. In Expt 1, broiler PL was incorporated in the proportions of 30 and 45% into diets based on wheat straw supplemented with 20% maize grain. The PL was either fresh (containing 19% ash) or had been heated in a stack (giving 26% ash). There were also two additional diets containing 45% fresh PL to which either ground limestone or wood ash had been added to provide the same ash content as the diets containing 45% stored, high ash PL. An in vivo digestibility and nitrogen balance trial was carried out. Storing the PL, which resulted in heating and an increase in ash content, reduced dry matter intake significantly. The largest and most significant effect on the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and crude protein can be ascribed to the freshness of the PL. Stored, heated PL had a highly negative effect on crude protein digestibility and on nitrogen retention. No negative effect of adding extrinsic ash was recorded. In Expt 2, the nutritional value of layer PL (LPL), compared with that of broiler PL (BPL), was examined using ten beef cows before and after calving. The diet was composed of 45% PL, 35% wheat straw (WS) and 20% maize grain. Daily dry matter intakes were 12·7 and 16·2 g/kg liveweight (LW) before calving and 15·5 and 22·8 g/kg LW after calving, for cows fed LPL and BPL, respectively. Owing to the combined effect of the lower dry matter intake, lower gross energy content and lower digestibility of LPL, the digestible energy intake of BPL diets was almost three-fold, and nitrogen absorption (g/kg LW0·75) on the BPL was 2·4-fold higher than on the LPL diets. Because the ash intake of both diets was similar, it is suggested that the main inhibiting factor of intake after calving was the rumen's ability to mobilize the large amounts of ash-rich complexes of ash and organic matter to the reticular omasal orifice and, consequently, out of the rumen.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine households’ acceptability of local (Ofada) rice by identifying the quality attributes influencing marginal implicit prices (MIPs) paid by rice consumers’ households in South-West, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The data used for this study were collected from a survey of 600 rice-consuming households in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. Well-structured questionnaires were used to collect information on general households’ socioeconomic characteristics, their desirability and preference for local (Ofada) rice, and market prices of Ofada rice. Kendall’s concordance test was performed to confirm agreement among respondents in their rankings of the rice quality attributes. Hedonic price function was used to examine the relationship between implicit prices paid by consumers based on quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice, as observed in the market. Findings The result of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance revealed that there is 73.74 per cent agreement in ranking quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice consumers’ households in the study area. Colour, perceived nutrient level, taste, grain shape and rate of breakage were the most ranked quality attributes with mean attribute ranking scores of 1.56, 1.69, 3.12, 5.53 and 5.86, respectively. The result of the hedonic pricing model revealed that households are willing to pay MIPs of ₦71.03 ($0.20), ₦45.23 ($0.13), ₦32.98 ($0.09), ₦21.06 ($0.06) and ₦14.41($0.04) per kg for colour, grain cohesion, grain shape, perceived nutrient level and perceived chemical storage, respectively, while discounting MIPs of ₦60.55 ($0.17), ₦19.36 ($0.05), ₦17.14 ($0.05) and ₦6.00 ($0.02) for texture, rate of breakage, perceived freshness and low swelling capacity per kg of local (Ofada) rice, respectively. Research limitations/implications Continuous importation of rice into the country has many negative implications such as worsening of the poverty status of local rice farmers, unemployment of teeming youths engaged in rice value chain, and exposure to soaring and unpredictable price bringing unsustainable development. Lastly, over-dependency on rice importation, if not checked, can also permit dumping of low quality and sometimes expired rice into the country. All aforementioned reasons will make it difficult for local rice to compete favourably with imported varieties. Practical implications Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model were used as a diagnostic tools. These diagnostic tools show the need for government and relevant stakeholders to focus on improving the quality of local (Ofada) rice, especially the undesirable attributes. This could be achieved by adopting modern processing technology, that will enhance production and consumers’ acceptability, which could make local (Ofada) rice have good market share against imported brands. Social implications The economic value of a good is revealed by the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good, consequently increasing production through consumers’ acceptability, and improve living standard of farmers and processors through increased earnings. Originality/value The choice of a particular local rice, especially local (Ofada) rice, is made to estimate the effect of different attributes on the price paid by rice consumers’ households and to help in the development of effective technologies and policy that enhance better rice quality using both Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model to achieve the objective. For the first time this research has given clarity on the monetary value attached to local (Ofada) rice consumption by rice consumers’ households through quality attributes.

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.