To assess the quality of food grains, it is necessary to consider the following two aspects their general characteristics and their intrinsic quality. "nalyzing the quality of wheat kernels is complex due to the particularity of wheat proteins and the diversity of products that can be developed. In contrast, basic factors are used to assess quality aspects, with a focus on kernel hardness. This parameter is usually measured by the force that is required to make the grain rupture. The application of force must be controlled, and hence, the grain will exhibit other mechanical attributes and behavioral characteristics that can be used to evaluate it more objectively. This has led to the development of nondestructive evaluation methods based on the mechanical properties of kernels. This review carried out research on grain wheat, in which the main objective was to evaluate mechanical properties, including the viscoelasticity of the wheat kernels, by using compression tests. The study examined different methods of applying those techniques and the parameters they evaluated. Finally, the results obtained by the different investigation groups that applied the compression tests on wheat kernels were discussed.

Cereal grains are biological materials and as such have certain unique characteristics greatly affected by both genetics and environment. Wheat is worldwide considered as the main cereal grain in the average human diet. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the most important grading factors and kernel physical parameters that are involved in the estimation of quality specifications. The determination of the physical properties of wheat kernels gives a first approximation of the structural characteristics useful for the design and selection of equipment for handling, harvesting, aeration, drying, storing and more importantly to functionality, processing and end uses. For instance, physical quality test that directly measure those properties are needed. To get a better prediction, physical evaluation of the wheat kernels offers a first and interesting quality control for their selection as raw materials in order to optimize quality of a large diversity of products. Kernel colour, shape, size, sphericity, porosity and bulk and specific densities and damages incurred due to heat, insects, molds or sprouting are relevant tests related to wheat kernel properties and quality.