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Crop Process Engineering

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Lesson 4. Processing of Farm Crops: Processing of Cereals
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4.0 Introduction
Current course
Crop Process Cereal grains are hygroscopic and would gain or lose moisture initially until they are
Engineering
in equilibrium with air. Food grains include cereals like rice, wheat, maize, sorghum
Participants
and millets; pulses like pigeon pea, chick pea, black gram and oilseeds like groundnut,
General
mustard, coconut, sesame. Storage is done to meet the food, feed and seed
Module- 1 Scope
and importance of
requirements of the people between two harvests and during natural calamities like
food processing.... draught, famine, war etc. Milling of food grains and oil seeds is done to convert them
Module- 2 into suitable products. All these operations could be performed with best possible
Processing of farm efficiency if crop location specific appropriate processing technology and equipments
crops; cereals,
pulse... are used. In general processing of products is done in three ways i.e., primary
Lesson 4. processing, secondary processing and tertiary processing. By products are processed
Processing of for economic utilization. At every stage of processing, value is added to the product.
Farm Crops:
Processing of ...
Primary processing refers to those operations which convert raw food materials into
Lesson- 4 Quiz
a form fit for eating or to be used in subsequent processing. Some examples are:
Lesson 5.
milling of paddy into rice, that of wheat into flour. Secondary processing converts
Processing of primary processed food materials into form fit for use at home or canteen or hotels.
Farm Crops: Some examples are milling of chick pea, splits into Besan.
Processing of ...
Lesson- 5 Quiz
Lesson 6.
Methods of 4.1 Processing of cereals
Milling of Pulses
Lesson- 6 Quiz Among major cereal crops processing of rice, wheat and maize, a detailed discussion is
Lesson 7. being given below:
Processing of oil
seeds 4.1.1 Processing of Rice
Lesson- 7 Quiz
Lesson 8. Fruits
Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) is most important food grains of the world and nearly 2/3of
and Vegetables population has partially or totally adopted rice as their main food. India is the world’s
Processing second largest producer of rice. A paddy grains consists of several layers of components.
Lesson- 8 Quiz The major components of paddy grain are the husk, bran layers, starchy endosperm and
Lesson 9. the embryo or the germ. Rice husk or hulls are the coating for the seeds. The hull is
Processed
Products from indigestible to humans. Bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined
Fruits and aleurone, nucellus, seed coat and pericarp. Along with germ, it is an integral part of
Veget...
whole grain, and is often produced as by-product of milling. The embryo or the germ is
Lesson- 9 Quiz
rich in protein and is often removed along with bran during the milling and polishing
Module- 3
process. The starchy endosperm is the popular white rice. A paddy grain approximately
Processing of
animal products contains 20 % by weight of husk, 5 to 7 % by weight of bran layers and about 3 % by
Module- 4 Principal weight of embryo.
of size reduction,
grain shape... Rice milling is the process wherein the rough rice grain is transformed into a form
Module- 5 Theory of suitable for human consumption, therefore, has to be done with utmost care to prevent
mixing, types of
breakage of the kernel and improve the recovery. When only the husk layer is removed
mixtures for ...
from paddy grain the resulting product is called brown rice. Brown rice is milled further
Module- 6 Theory of
separation, size and to remove bran layers for creating a visually more appealing white rice than the brown
un sized ... rice.
Module- 7 Theory of
filtration, study of Method of Rice Milling
different...
Module- 8 Scope & Traditionally, for milling hand pounding method was common. In a hand pound method,
importance of paddy is pounded in a traditional stone or wooden pestle and mortar. After pounding, the
material handl...
paddy is winnowed to separate the de-husked and un-husked kernels. The un-husked
19 April - 25 April
paddy grains are pounded again in the pestle and mortar. These operations are
26 April - 2 May
cumbersome, time consuming and require heavy labour input. By hand pounding husk
Courses
and a small portion of bran are removed from the paddy. The resulting brown rice was
nutritionally sound because of the bran layers.
Hand pounding became an obsolete and unpopular method after the introduction of
hullers for milling paddy. The most popular model of a huller mill is the Engleberg huller.
In Engleberg huller the paddy is passed two or three times get milled rice. Engleberg
huller removes the rice husk and many times bran layers by mechanically cutting them
between a rotating knife and a stationary blade. This is a very crude method of milling
because due to cutting of husk and bran layers using metal parts, the breakage of rice is
heavy and the head rice (the whole rice grain) yield is low. Furthermore, the valuable by-
product, the barn, is removed along with the husk. Rice is separated from the husk and
bran by sieving and bowling. Hulling using Engleberg huller reduced the human
drudgery of hand pounding and is quicker than hand pounding. However, the quantity of
broken rice is higher than the hand pounded rice and reduces the milling outturn.
Bran is particularly rich in dietary fiber and essential fatty acids and contains significant
quantities of starch, protein, vitamins and dietary minerals. It contains various
antioxidant that impart beneficial effects on human health. Pure rice bran contains 18-21
% oil. The government felt the importance of recovering this valuable by product for
extraction of oil and for other food purposes and industrial purposes. Therefore, the
concept of modern rice milling came into existence. Modernization of rice milling started
with a view to obtaining higher rice yields and better quality by-products such as bran
and husk. The ultimate goal of the rice industry is to produce a maximum amount of
whole grain rice because market value of whole kernels. It is therefore important in
processing to avoid conditions that may promote breakage.
Modern rice mills use rubber roll sheller in place of Engleberg huller. In a rubber roll
sheller two differential counter rotating rolls remove the husk by frictional rubbing thus
separating husk and the brown rice. In modern rice mills, the brown rice is almost
always polished to remove the bran layers.
Two to four stage polishing are common in modern rice mills. Cone polishers are used for
removing the bran layers.

In both the traditional and modern methods rice is milled either raw or parboiled.
Parboiling refers to partial boiling of rice. Due to soaking and steaming the rice starch
gelatinizes and water soluble vitamins and minerals become integral part of the rice
starch. Rice becomes tougher and breakage during milling is reduced. Though there are
many advantages in parboiling, it is done only base on consumer preferences. In the
plant is producing parboiled rice in addition to the above it should also have a section for
parboiling and drying.

Modern rice milling processes

The major steps involved and the definitions of each process in modern rice milling
process are shown hereunder.

Removing all impurities and

Sieve separator,
unfilled grains from paddy.
Pre magnetic
: This is also involves removing
cleaning separator and
the metal parts from the
winnowers
paddy.

Vibratory
De-stoning : Separating from paddy
separator

Partially boiling paddy by soaking, steaming and

drying. Helps in improving the nutritional quality by
Parboiling :
gelatinization of starch inside the rice grain. It improves
the milling recovery
 Removing husk from paddy
Rubber roll
Dehusking : with minimum damage to the
sheller
rice grain

Husk Separating the husk from

: Aspirator
aspiration brown rice/unhusked paddy

Paddy Specific gravity Separating the unhusked

:
separation separator paddy from brown rice

Removing all or parts of the

bran layer and germ from
Whitening : Cone polisher
brown rice using cone
polishers

Improving the appearance of milled rice by removing

Polishing : the remaining bran particles and by polishing the
exterior of the milled kernel using cone polishers

Vibratory sieve Separating small – large

Grading :
grader brokens from head rice

Color Removing the discolored rice

: Colour sorter
sorting from the white rice

Bagging : Preparing the milled rice for transport to the customer

Cleaning and Grading

The paddy must be cleaned off the chaff and lighter impurities, foreign grains of
different sizes, sand, stones, debris and metal pieces that may present. The different
cleaning operations and the machinery used for such are shown in Table 2.1.
Table 4.1 Machinery used in cleaning paddy

Machinery Operation

Vibratory sieve For removing foreign of different sizes

De-stoner For removing stones

Magnetic separator For removing the metal parts in the paddy bulk

Winnower For removing lighter impurities

Cleaning paddy becomes a must for delivering quality and consumer acceptable rice in
the market. Removing metal parts and stones become inevitable because they cause
damages to the milling machines. Many of these operations can be performed a single or
with two machines.
Parboiling
Parboiling is an optional and pre-milling process given to the paddy. It is hydrothermal
process in which paddy soaked in water followed by gelatinization by steaming. The step
process involves soaking, steaming and drying. There are different methods in parboiling
such as household method, single steam method, double steam method, hot water
soaking method and pressure parboiling method etc. Among these methods single
steaming, double steaming and hot soaking methods are adopted in commercial scales.
Some popular methods of parboiling are listed below:
i. Single steaming method
In single steaming method paddy is soaked in water at room temperature for 1-3 days in
cement cisterns. After complication of soaking the water is drained and steamed in
batches.
ii. Double steaming method
In double steaming method raw paddy is steamed first and added in batches into the
water for soaking at room temperature in a cement tank. The steamed paddy increases
the temperature of the soaking water to above 50 to 60 0C and slowly cooled to room
temperature in a day. After 24 hours, water is drained and paddy is again second time
steamed.
iii. Hot Soaking Method

In this method, the raw paddy is added to hot water at 90 to 95 0C. The water is circulated
so the temperature is maintained at 65 to 70 0C for 5 to 6 h. After soaking, the water is
drained and steamed in the same vessel.
Steaming and Drying

In modern rice milling the streaming is done separately using a steaming unit. The steam
is produced usually from a boiler unit under pressure. The soaked paddy is then dried. In
modern rice mills usually LSU driers with hot air from steam heated exchangers is used
for drying.
The purpose of this to produce physical, chemical and organaleptic modifications in rice
with economic, nutritional and practical advantages.

Advantages of Parboiling
1. The milling yield is higher and the quality is improved as there are fewer broken
grains.
2. The grain structure becomes compact and vitreous, even if some kernels were
entirely or partly chalky.
3. The milled rice becomes translucent and shiny.
4. Parboiled paddy and milled parboiled rice keep longer and better than in the raw
state as germination is no longer possible and the kernel is hard making it
resistant to attacks by insects and to absorption of moisture from its environment.
5. The grains remain firmer during cooking and less likely to become sticky.
6. A greater amount of water is absorbed during cooking causing the rice to swell.
7. After cooking the rice absorbs less fat from added conditions.
8. When cooked, the rice keeps longer and it will not go rancid so easily.

9. Parboiled rice retains more proteins, vitamins and minerals which have spread
during parboiled in the endosperm.
10. After cooking parboiled rice is more digestible.
11. Less solids are kept behind in the cooking water.
12. Shelling of parboiled paddy is easier.
13. Rice bran obtained from parboiled rice gives higher percentage of oil.
Disadvantages of parboiling
1. The heat treatment during parboiling destroys some natural anti oxidants, hence
rancidity developed in parboiled during storage is more than in raw rice.
2. Parboiled rice takes more time to cook than raw rice and may have characteristic
off flavour which may not be liked by raw eaters.
3. Parboiling process needs an extra investment of capital.
4. Inspite of extra expenditure involved in parboiling, the higher out turn of head
yield from the process brings in additional profit to the miller and ensures
cheaper price to the consumer. Apart from this, the higher nutritive value of
parboiled rice can by-itself justify large scale practice of parboiling. Generally
scented the fine varieties of paddy has good milling quality are not parboiled.
Traditional method of parboiling
The traditional method process consists of soaking in water at room temperature for 24-
28 hours or more steaming in kettles under atmospheric pressure and drying in the sun.
In the boiling method paddy is soaked in ordinary water for 24-72 hours and then
steamed. In double boiling method steam is first injected into raw paddy in the steaming
kettle before soaking. Hot paddy raises the temperature of soaking water to 45-50˚C,
which helps to reduce the soaking time to 24 hours. Therefore soaked paddy is steamed.
Sometimes the soaking water itself is heated about 50˚C before the raw paddy is dumped
in it and in this case first steaming is not required. Traditional method of parboiling has
the following disadvantages:

During prolonged soaking, fermentation sets in and an undesirable smell is developed.

1. It is a conductive to development of mycotoxins which are quite harmful.
2. Sun drying is quite uncertain.
3. Lossdue to manual consumption by birds, rodents and insects in the process of
drying significant.
4. Unhygienic conditions associated with the process of drying.
5. It requires large drying yard and
6. Labour requirement is high.
The modern methods used in different countries have been very successful in
overcoming the above limitations.
Modern method of parboiling (CFTRI)
Parboiled tanks are filled with clean water is heated to a temperature of about 85˚C by
passing steam through the coils already placed inside the tank. Sometimes hot water is
prepared in a separated hot water tank before being pumped into the parboiled tanks.
Paddy is dumped into the hot water as quickly as possible. The resulting temperature of
paddy water mixture in the tanks stays around 70˚C. Soaking water can be re-circulated
into the hot water tank to maintain a constant temperature of 70˚C. After getting the
paddy soaked for 3-3.5 hours, the soaking water is drained out and the water discharge
value kept open to remove water that condenses during steaming. Soaked paddy is
exposed to steam at a pressure of about 4 kg/cm2 through the open steam coil. Soaking
and steaming of paddy is done in the same tank. Splitting of the husk is the indication of
completion of parboiling process. The parboiled paddy is taken out by opening the
bottom door and can be dried either in sun or by a mechanical dryer.
Milling
The dried paddy is milled to produce rice. In the modern rice mills, rubber roll shellers
are used. A rubber roll sheller is also associated with cone polishers. Usually 2-4 cone
polishers are used depending on the size of the rice mills. In this method of milling the
husk is removed by rubber roll sheller and the bran and germ portions of rice are
separated during polishing in the cone polishers.
During milling, the husk and bran layer are removed. After removal of husk, the
polishing is done to more than 5 % to obtain the write rice. Due to soft nature of kernels,
the raw milling results in higher percentages of brokens with reduced out turn compared
with parboiled rice. The milling yield slightly varies and depends on the quality of raw
paddy being milled.
4.1.2 Processing of Wheat
Wheat the basic ‘bread grain’ of the European civilization has been the chick source of
human food, for at least the past 6000 years. Wheat is the second important food grains
of India.

It is estimated that 10 percent of the crop is lost either during harvesting, threshing
transportation or storage. With increasing production this amount of loss is very
significant. The losses in storage are both quantitative and qualitative. It is necessary that
every effort is made to reduce the losses particularly in storage. The slogan that “grain
saved is a grain produced” should be popularized among the farmers the traders.
Next to rice, wheat is the second most important food crop. With reduced acreages under
coarse cereals such as sorghum, minor millets, pearl millets, finger millets and barely, the
food habits of the people are gradually shifting in favour of rice and wheat. The
importance of wheat is increasing in modern society because of its flexibility in making
ready to eat or easy to make or other convenient foods. Even in the traditional rice eating
states wheat is popular. A number of milling, baking and confectionary units are coming
up. Different type of foods requires different qualities of wheat. Thus wheat consumption
will continue to rise and subsequently the demand for different kinds of wheat.
In the traditional method of harvesting ripe wheat is cut and bound in to sheaves, which
are stood in stacks in the field. The action of wind and sun reduces moisture of the wheat
from between 16 percent in a few days. When the moisture is sufficiently reduced
sheaves are collected, stacked and threshed. The threshed grain with moisture of 14 % or
less can be stored safely.
Most important event, in processing is milling of wheat, the term milling in reference to
the process involving food grains is a trade name used for reduction of grains into flour
or meal or any other consumable form for human beings or animals. In India, a large
population of wheat is used as atta and maida. The scope of milling covers a wide range
of process depending upon the grain and products.
Structure of wheat grain
The grain of wheat consists of outer covering the pericarps and testa which is hard and
indigestible, an aleurone layer, which contains a higher proportion of protein than flour,
an embryo attacked to a small structure, the schutelum at the lower end of the grain, and
finally the endosperm comprising of 85 percent of the whole grain from which the flour
is derived.
It is important to mention that the milling of wheat is physical process. The composition
of bran germ and endosperm in wheat is given below:

Bran – 12%
Germ – 3%
Endosperm – 85%
Purpose of flour milling
The purpose of flour milling is to first separate the endosperm from bran and germ in
large chunks as possible and then reduce the size of the endosperm chunks flour sized
particles through a series of milling steps. The germ can be rather easily removed
because it contains oil which makes it putty-like and hence it will flatten under the force
of rolls. However, the case with bran is quite different. Bran like endosperm is ground
very easily into a fine powder and hence it is quite impossible to separate it from a fine
powder and powdery endosperm. Flour contaminated with wheat bran is brownish
rather than white is not desirable for food purposes.
The effective separation of bran form endosperm depends upon the principles:

(i) When wheat is soaked with water, the bran becomes tough and rubbery while the
endosperm which is in the interior becomes soft and friable.
(ii) When wheat berry is sheared by the corrugation of first roll or break will spilt open
releasing some endosperm and flour and thus export the remaining endosperm of the
bran in successive break rolls.
Most of wheat mills obtained about a 70 % field of flour from a theories yield of about 85
percent total endosperm. The by-products of milling- the grain and shorts and bran
together comprise about 30 % of the mill stream.
Wheat milling process
The wheat milling process consists of five main parts. They are;
(i) reception and storage of wheat
(ii) cleaning of wheat
(iii) tempering or conditioning
(iv) milling of wheat into flour and its by products.
(v) storage of the finished products
Reception and storage of wheat
Wheat selection is important to the flour miller without sound wheat unspotted, and free
from insect contamination the miller is powerless to pro an adequate product. Whether
wheat is to be bread production or for cakes, coke, pastry or biscuits depends primarily
upon the protein content of the wheat. So the flour contains a lower percentage of
protein then the grain from which milled, the wheat is brought at about one percent
higher protein content wanted in the finished flour.
It should be pointed out that wheat as other cereal grains is subject to govern inspection
and grading. Such a grading system is of great help to the grain. Since it not only takes
into consideration the soundness of wheat for milling pulse but also limit the amount of
contamination of other cereal seeds, weed seed that foreign matter.
Wheat is stored at the mill in large concrete line. Before storage the wheat undergoes a
preliminary cleaning and drying to remove the grass impurities foreign material and to
remove moisture if necessary do that the wheat can stored without heating. Heat
production results from the growth of microorganisms in the grains and is caused by the
heat of their respiration process and these that, wheat must be kept dry normally no
higher than 14.5 percent moisture.
The drying process is coupled in three stages.
(i) The wheat is preheated to desired temperature. The temperature of grain is not
allowed to exceed 48 0C when the moisture content is 17 percent and 390C when
moisture content is under 17 percent.
(ii) Water is removed by heat vaporization and
(iii) The grain is cooled by water evaporation.
Cleaning of wheat
Since the grain impurities have already been removed at the storage the techniques used
in the cleaning house is more refined. Wheat cleaned by removing loose foreign material
and dirt adhering to the surface of the grain.
Wheat is weighed as it enters the cleaning house and therefore goes through a separator,
which is set to remove fine impurities and dust. Small pieces of sticks, stones, sand and
dust are shifted away and light impurities such as wheat chaff are removed by air
current. After this wheat passes over magnetic separators to remove by adventitious
metal which may have formed their way into the wheat mix. Another cleaning machine
used to remove other cereal grains and weed seeds is a disc separator. In such a disk
separator different types of plates can be set to discharge wheat at any place along the
route.
Next step in the cleaning operation is the removal of dirt from the surface of the wheat
by scouring. The scourers differ widely in design. Usually the wheat is removed by
paddles against an emery coated surface, the severity of the treatment being controlled
by the clearance between the paddles and stationary emery surface. The dirt and outer
coating of wheat bran are removed by air aspiration.
The final cleaning step is a water work. The water dissolves the dirt and permits stones
and bits of metal to sink. In some cases it appears to reduce microbiological
contamination of the wheat and in all cases worker tends to add about one percent water
to the original moisture content.
Tempering or Conditioning
Tempering refers to the addition of water to the bran and endosperm. The bran becomes
tough and rubbery while the endosperm becomes less vitreous. This improves milling
efficiency.
Tempering involves adding water to raise the moisture to 15 to 19 % for hard wheat and
14.5 to 17 % hours. During this time, the water enters the bran and diffuses inward
causing the bran to loose its friable characteristics and to become leathery in textures.

Conditioning, in contrast to tempering always the use of heat since quick diffusion of
water into endosperm as well as the bran is the purpose. Wheat conditioners involve
four sections. The section heats the heat to the proper temperature (as heat affects gluten
quality, normally a temperature of 45 0C can not be exceeded). The second section adds
moisture and holds the wheat for the proper temperature. The third section cools the
wheat at room temperature and the final section provides a holding bin where the
moisture in wheat is allowed to equilibrate before milling.
Here all the conditioning water can be added at once. The wheat goes through the
preheat section and the cooling section in 1.5 hours or less. However, it is held in holding
bins from 8 to 18 hours the longer times being used for the harder wheat.
In one method of conditioning the wheat is heated very rapidly but the direct injection of
steam and held at a temperature of 490C for about one min. Following this, there is a
rapid cooling plunging the wheat into cold water and hence to a centrifugal machine to
remove the surface water. This method is method is extremely fast and has advantage
that the cooling process not tends to dry the bran coat since it is not done by cool air or
evaporation.
Wheat grinding
The grinding of whet is done between pairs of rolls. These rolls, since they are moving
opposite direction moving at different rate of speed one from the other and set with an
appreciable gap between them do not grind the wheat primarily by crushing. Rather, the
reduction of wheat size is by shearing for which because of the set of the roll runs about
25 times faster that the slower one and at speed from 250 to 450 rpm.
Here, the roller milling area is divided into two sections, the break section and the
reduction section. In the first area system, the bran is broken open and the endosperm is
milled away. This system quit often involves from proceeding one. After each break the
moisture of free bran, free endosperm, free germ and bran containing adhering
endosperm is shifted. The bran having endosperm still attached goes to the next break
roll and the process is repeated until as much as endosperm has been separated from the
bran as is possible. The freed endosperm is section to the reduction rolls where it is
further reduced to the proper particles size for flours.
Rolls in the second system are reduction rolls which are similar to the break roll expect
that their surface is normally smooth to rather than corrugated. After each reduction of
endosperm channels which are returned to the second roll and the process is repeated.
Component of wheat mill
1. Break rolls
The surface of the break rolls is always fluted to obtain the necessary grinding effect. The
saw tooth flutes run spirally around the roll and the number of flutes per unit length
increases from the first to the fourth break. The first break run 4-5 flutes per cm on the
fourth about 12 flutes.

2. Break sifting system

After each set of break roll there is a sifting system, called scalping. The system can be
divided into two parts.
(a) Plan sifier: It is flat sieves pilled in tries one above the other the action of the
sifter is rotary in plane parallel with floor. As the sifter moves in about 9 cm circle,
the small sized particles spill through the sieve below while the oversized particles
travel across the sieve to a collecting through and are removed. As many as 12 sieves
can be piled on the top of the other and there are four separate compartments in one
Plansifier.
In Plansifiers larger pieces of bran with adhering endosperm are first remove at the
top and are sent to the next break roll. The next sieves are finer and remove bran and
germ. The next layers finer jets remove endosperm middling and the bottom troughs
of flour. Wire mesh screens are used for the coarse separations and cloth for finer
separations. The finest sieves run upto 196 mesh per inch and have opening of 0.060
min.
(b) Purifier: The middlings still contain minute size bran particles which are
removed by sending the product through a purifier where air currents carry the bran
away. A purifier is essentially a long oscillating sieve inclined downward and
becoming coarser from head to tail. Air is blown through the sieve from the bottom
which causes the flour to stratify into endosperm chunks of different size. On the
bottom are the smallest pure middlings. Next are the larger middlings. Next come
endosperm and bran particles. Next the large pieces of endosperm still adhering to
bran, and endosperm chunks. On the top there are heavier and finally the light bran
particles.
The sieves are so designed that only the endosperm particles pass through and go on
the reduction rolls. The cover tails are composite particles of bran and endosperm
and pure bran which either go back to a break roll or mill feed.
As many as purifiers are quite normally found for 4 break rolls in the scalping system.
For example, the fine middlings from the first, second, third and fourth breaks normally
go through a double purification step while the coarse middlings need only one
purification treatment.
3. Reduction Rolls

The reduction system comprises two parts roll mills and sifting machines. The purpose of
reduction rolls is to reduce endosperm middlings to flour size and facilitate the removal
of the last remaining particles of bran and germ. The roll stands in reduction system are
further divided into coarse rolls and fine rolls depending upon the clearance between the
rollers. The coarse rolls are used only to produce middlings of uniform size for layer
reduction to flour. Hence these rolls are often called sizing rolls and the middlings sent to
them are called chunks. Middlings sized on the sizing rolls are then sent to the fine rolls
to be ground to flour.

After each reduction the resulting product is sent to sifter s where finished flour is
removed and over sized material is sent back to the reduction rolls for further
processing.
4.Reduction sifting system
Plansifier are used behind the reduction rolls and their purpose is to divide the stock into
coarse rolls and the fine middlings are returned to fine rolls while the flour is removed
from the middling system.
Purifiers are often used behind the coarse reduction rolls. The purpose in this case is size
grading rather than purification.
One is must to be careful to over ground the flour in the reduction system. Over grinding
damages starch granules and makes the flour unsuitable for baking. Over grinding can
be detected by high maltose value.

5. Scratch system
In this system, if the mil is working properly, , the scratch system can be by passed and if
it is not, this system is used to maintain proper release of endosperm from bran. The
scratch syatem is an extension of the break system and thus used as stand by system only.
4.1.3 Processing of Corn
Corn (Zea mays) is the crop used either human and animal consumption or industrial
use. Corn is processed in to different food and feed ingradients, beverages and industrial
products. It is usually harvested when its moisture content is in the range of 18 to 24 %.
The maize kernels must be dried to safe moisture levels of about 12 % to avoid losses.
During mechanical harvesting and shelling, sometimes result in external damage, like
breaking of the pericarp and the germ results attack of biotic factors like insects, mites,
pathogens, fungi, microorganisms etc. during storage before processing. Low moisture
content and storage temperatures reduce the deterioration and microbial growth. Maize
is consumed in different forms like maize grits, polenta, corn bread, popcorn and maize
flakes. Maize is also widely used to make beverages. Corn kernel is composed of
endosperm, germ, pericarp and tip cap.
Milling of corn
Dry milling and wet milling are the most common methods are used for corn milling. The
different end products after dry milling process like germ used for oil extraction while
husk and de-oiled germ used for cattle feed, grits for breakfast whereas starch, germ and
feed are the products of wet milling.
Dry milling method of corn
Dry milling method is divided in to two methods; non de-germing method (traditional)
and de-germing method (modern). In traditional method, the whole kernel is ground in
to meal by stone grinder without removing germ having high fiber and high protein.
Then, the hull and germ are removed by sifting from the meal. In de-germing method, the
kernel are moistened with a less amount of water and then tempered for equilibrium.
Then, the moistened kernel are allowed to dry and then the hull, germ and tip cap are
removed from the kernel to get corn grits. The germ is used for oil extraction and de-
oiled germ and hull are used for cattle feed purpose which is known as hominy feed. The
yield of endosperm products and horny feed are about 70 per cent and 30 per cent
respectively.

Tempering – De-germing (T.D.) method of dry milling

The major objectives of this method are:
a) to remove essentially all germ and hull so that endosperm contains as low as and
fibre as possible,
b) to recover a maximum amount of the endosperm as large clean grits without any
dark speck, and
c) to recover a maximum amount of germ as large and pure particles.

The basic unit operation involved in Tempering and De-germing method is discussed
hereunder;
a) Cleaning
Cleaning is the first and most important operation essential for the subsequent milling
operations. The dry cleaner are consisting of aspirators and sieves and wet cleaner
consisting of a washing destining unit and a mechanical type dewatering unit known as
whizzer are used for cleaning of corn. The iron particles are removed by using magnetic
separator.
b) Hydrothermal / conditioning treatment
Cold or hot water or steam of predetermined quantity is added to corn kernel either in
single or two or three stages with appropriate times after each stage. This tempering
period is vary according to the hydration methods. So also tempering temperatures vary
from room temperature to about 50°C accordingly. Either cold or hot water is used for the
addition of moisture. A little heat in the form of open steam is added as and when
necessary The optimum moisture content for de-germing in de-germer is 21-25 %.
c) De-germing
De-germing is the most important operation to remove germ, hull and tip cap from the
kernel and to get grit. After de-germing, the products received consists of mixture of
kernel components, freed from each other to varying degrees with the endosperm
particles varying in sizes from grits to flour. Beall de-germer consists of a rotating cast
iron conical roller mounted on a horizontal shaft in a conical cage.
d) Drying and cooling of degermer stock
The degermer products are to be dried to 15 to 18 per moisture content for proper
grinding and sifting.Generally rotary steam tube dryers are used for drying the product.
Rotary Louver type dryer can also be employed. The stock is heated to about 50°C.
Counter-flow of cross-flow rotary, vertical gravity or fluidised bed types of cooler can be
used for cooling the dried products.
Rolling and Grading
Recovery of various primary products is the next step. Further release of germ and husk
from the endosperm product occurs during their gradual size reduction roller mills.
The germ, husk and endosperm fragments are then separated by means of sifters,
aspirators, specific gravity table separators or purifiers. Sifting is an important operation
and is variously referred to as scalping, grading, classifying, or bolting depending upon
the means used and purpose. Sifting is actually a size separation ration on sieves.
Scalping is the coarse separation made on the product leaving a roller mill or degermer.
Grading or classifying is the separation of a single stock (usually endosperm particles into
two or more groups according to particle size. Bolting is removal of hull fragments from
a corn meal or flour.

Wet Milling method of corn

The raw corn for wet milling should contain 15-16 per cent moisture and it should be
physically sound. Insect and pest infested, cracked and heat damaged corns (treated at
temperature around 75° C during drying) are unsuitable for wet milling. The heat
damaged corn affects the quality of oil extracted from its germ.Sufficient amount of
moisture is added to the corn during steeping in the wet milling process in order to
prepare the corn for subsequent degerming, grinding and separation operations.
The wet milling process consists of the following steps:
i) cleaning
ii) soaking
iii) germ separation and recovery
iv) grinding and hull recovery and
v) separation of starch and gluten
Cleaning
Impurities such as dust, chaff, cobs, stones, insect-infested grain and broken and other
foreign materials are removed from corn by screening and aspirating. The clean grains
are conveyed to the storage bins.
Steeping
 The major objectives of steeping are to soften the kernel for grinding, to facilitate
separation of germ and gluten from the starch granules and to remove solubles, mainly
from the germ. Water impregnated with SO2 (i.e., acidulated water with H2SO3) is used
for stepping; it helps in arresting certain fermentation (luring long sleeping process. The
steeping is carried out at about 50° C for a period varying from 28 to 48 hours in
different plants. The steeped corn attains a moisture content of about 45 %.
Germ recovery
The wet and softened kernels having about 45 % moisture are conveyed to the de-
germing unit. This machine consisting of stationary metallic plate and rotating plate with
projected teeth for tearing the soft kernels apart and freeing the germs without grinding
them. The pulpy mixture containing germ, husk, starch and gluten is separated by
floatation (old) method but in modern method, mixture passed through the hydroclones
where the germ is separated as it is lighter by centrifugal force.
Milling and fibre recovery
After separation of germ and screening of the coarse particles, the mixture contains
starch, gluten and hulls. The horny endosperm and hulls are then ground to release the
rest of the starch. Material to be ground enters the machine through a spinning rotor and
is thrown out with a great force against the impactors at the periphery of the rotor and
also against a stationary impactor resulting in considerable reduction in particle size.
The starch is readily released here with a ery little size reduction of hulls. The milled
slurry, containing the ground starch, gluten and hulls is passed through a series of
hexagonal reels where the coarser hulls and fibres are removed.
Starch-Gluten separation
The slurry containing starch and gluten is concentrated an then gluten particles are
separated by high speed centrifugal separator as it is lighter than the starch particles.
This process is carried out in two stages and the second stage of centrifugation is
performed by a number of hydroclones types of equipments. The starch obtained is
filtered and then dried o produce dry starch.
References:
http://www.ddgs.umn.edu/articles-proc-storage-quality/2001-Davis-
%20Processing.pdf

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Crop Process Engineering