Stress Cracking During High-Intensity Drying and its Effect on Grain Quality

Convective and microwave-assisted thin-layer drying of wheat has been studied to identify the relationship between drying parameters and stress cracks affecting the grain quality. Internal cracks developed during drying were visualized by the soft X-ray photography and quantified by a binary index. Definite effects from drying conditions on stress cracks and further on the grain quality categorized in terms of the germination capacity, sprout length and mechanical strength have been found. This confirms suitability of the X-ray method of cracks detection for selection of optimum drying parameters.