Influence of water activity and temperature on dehulling of buckwheat

Mazza, G. and C.G. Campbell.

Agriculture Canada, Research Station, Morden, Manitoba R0G 1J0

Mazza, G. and C.G. Campbell. 1984. Influence of water activity and temperature on dehulling of buckwheat. Cereal Chem. 62: 31-34.

Abstract: Dehulling and moisture sorption characteristics of three buckwheat cultivars were determined at water activities of 0.11-0.98 and at 1, 10, 25 and 40ºC. The dehulling recovery varied among cultivars and water activity of the seeds. Of the three cultivars, Mancan yielded the most groats and CM 169 yielded the least. The dehulling yield of each cultivar decreased as the water activity increased but was essentially unaffected by temperature. The amount of whole groats in the dehulled fraction was constant at water activities of 0.11-0.50 but more than doubled as the water activity was increased from 0.50 to 0.98. The optimum water activity for minimizing the rate of degradation of buckwheat seed during storage and for maximizing the dehulling yield and percentage of whole groats was approximately 0.18.

Key words: buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, dehulling, water activity