report for instrumental instalation

1. Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research
Agricultural and Nutritional Research Laboratories
Directorate
Agricultural Quality Research Laboratory
Report for the installation of laboratory equipment at Kulumsa
Agricultural Research Center
By
Ayetenew Abita
November 2015

2. 1. INSTALLATION OF INSTRUMENTS
1.1. Installation of falling Number® System
The Falling Number® System measures the alpha-amylase enzyme activity in grains and
flour to detect sprout damage, optimize flour enzyme activity and guarantee soundness of
traded grain. Alpha-amylase activity is crucial for final product quality of bread, pasta,
noodles and malt. Anyone handling wheat, barley, rye or sorghum intended for these
applications will benefit from the Falling Number system.
When it rains just before harvest, grain may start to germinate (or sprout) in the head. The
germination causes an increase in alpha amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch. There
are also increases in enzymes that break down proteins. Of these, the starch-degrading
enzyme has a greater effect on reducing the quality of flour, and of products made from the
flour. The longer the grain sprouts, the greater the amount of the alpha amylase formed. If
badly sprouted grain is milled, the flour can cause product problems.
Falling number gives an indication of the amount of sprout damage that has occurred within
a wheat sample. Generally, a falling number value of 350 seconds or longer indicates a low
enzyme activity and very sound wheat quality. As the amount of enzyme activity increases,
the falling number decreases. Values below 200 seconds indicate high levels of enzyme
activity.
Why is this important? Sprouting can affect food made from wheat in many ways. It can
reduce mixing strength, cause sticky dough, and affect loaf volume and shelf life. In pasta,
sprouting can reduce shelf life, increase cooking loss, and produce softer cooked pasta. The
falling number test does not directly measure amylase enzyme activity, but measures
changes in the physical properties of the starch portion of the wheat kernel caused by these
enzymes during the test.
The installed instrument has four main equipments for the entire analysis which includes
mixer (mix the flour with water), grind feeder (changes the sample into fine particle), chiller

3. (recirculation and cooling water) and falling number (analysis and figure out the value) as
shown figure below.
Figure 1; The Falling Number System Equipments
1.2. Installation of Glutomatic System
When baking bread, producing noodles or pasta, the flour gluten content, and strength will
determine the quality of the finished product. The Glutomatic System is the world standard for
determination of gluten quantity and quality.
The effect of gluten quantity and quality in the flour used for breads, cookies, crackers and pasta
is dramatic. It is clear that the wet gluten quantity of the flour strongly influences bread volume.
Using the Glutomatic System, you will be able to determine the baking quality of wheat and
flour.
The Glutomatic system provides important information of gluten properties. It is a valuable tool
for breeders, grain traders/handlers, flourmills, bakeries, pasta producers and vital wheat gluten
manufacturers.
Gluten is the functional component of protein and determines many dough and processing
characteristics of wheat and wheat flour. Protein content is a purely quantitative analysis that

4. may or may not be indicative of protein quality. While gluten content and protein content
correlated, there are situations during which protein content will not be indicative of quality.
These situations include variable growing conditions, yearly growing variation, wheat varietal
variation, wheat or flour blends, heat damage, bug damage, and enzymatic addit.
It is under these conditions when the reported protein content is not indicative of quality that
another set of tests is required. The Glutomatic system designed to measure protein quality for
the following parameters: wet gluten content, dry gluten content, water binding of gluten, gluten
strength by gluten index.
The Glutomatic System helps users identify wheat and flour with the properties necessary for
particular products. Most breads and pastas require high protein content with strong gluten.
Cakes, crackers and pastries require weaker gluten to produce high quality products.
The Glutomatic System is rapid, easy to use, and the results are easy to interpret. By setting a
Gluten Index specification on incoming materials, one of the more important properties can
become more consistent. Gluten quality does not only affect end-product quality, but plays an
important role in processing.
The Glutomatic Method provides a way for users to measure many gluten properties in one test.
The Gluten Index method is the only method to determine gluten quality without first extracting
flour. The method is suitable for both wheat meal and flour.
Principle: Wet Gluten is prepared from whole meal or flour by the Glutomatic 2200 gluten
washer. Gluten Index Centrifuge 2015 used to force the wet gluten through a specially designed
sieve cassette. The relative amount of gluten passing through the sieve indicates the gluten
characteristics. The wet gluten further dried in the Glutork 2020 for dry gluten content and water
binding in the wet gluten calculation.

5. Figure 2; The Glutomatic System Equipments
1.3. Single Kernel Characterization System
Instead of determining the average quality of an entire sample of grain kernels, the SKCS
determines the characteristics for each kernel – one by one - in a fully automatic mode. Moisture,
hardness, diameter and weight analyzed for each individual kernel. For flour millers and
maltsters grain uniformity information makes it possible to increase yields, and the SKCS is a
tool, which rapidly pays back its investment cost.
Figure 3; Single Kernel Characterization System