Chemical Work on Canadian Wheat. 6i 



The Effect of Dampness on the Quality of Wheat. 



It sometimes happens in the wheat fields of North- Western 

 Canada that, owing to inclement weather following the cutting 

 of the grain, wheat becomes damp while in the stook, and may 

 remain so for some weeks before it is threshed. As such wheat 

 is accounted of a lower commercial grade by reason of the duller 

 and paler appearance of the. grain, because also of the common 

 impression that the moisture in the grain has injuriously affected 

 the gluten and thus impaired the resultant flour for bread-making 

 purposes, it became a question of considerable importance to 

 ascertain, by chemical and baking tests, how far this contention 

 might be correct. Wheat that has been damp through exposure 

 and subsequently dried is known commercially as "tough." Three 

 samples of such wheat from the crop of 1907, which had been 

 dried at the elevator, were submitted to analysis. All were found 

 practically normal as regards moisture, and gave glutens of excel- 

 lent quality. We concluded from a general survey of the 

 analytical results that these wheats, from which about 5 per cent, 

 moisture had been driven off at the elevators, had not appreciably 

 suffered in quality.* 



Further prosecution of this inquiry was made possible through 

 the co-operation of Dr. Charles E. Saunders, the Cerealist, who 

 had instituted a series of experiments to learn what deterioration 

 might take place in break-making value when wheat was kept 

 more or less damp for a longer or shorter period before being 

 milled. The wheat under experiment remained moist at tempera- 

 tures ranging from 40° F. to 58 0 F. for a period of twenty-seven 

 days, samples being taken for analysis at various intervals (five 

 minutes, ten, twenty, and twenty-seven days), spread in thin 

 layers to dry and then milled. In the sample that had been kept 

 twenty days mustiness was noticed, and in that which had been 

 damp for twenty-seven days the mustiness was more pronounced, 

 and sprouting had commenced. The analysis of the resulting 

 flours was of the most comprehensive character. A detailed study 

 of the results indicates that wheat may contain an excessive 

 amount of moisture for some considerable time without its com- 

 position being very materially affected. It was evident, however, 

 that there had been a slight falling off in the percentage 

 of dry gluten and a deterioration in quality in those wheats in 

 which the mustiness was marked and sprouting had begun, f 



Influence of Storage on Wheat and Flour. 



It is generally conceded that flour improves as to colour and 

 strength with age. To discover such changes in composition as 



* Report of the Chemist, Exp. Farms, 1908-09, pp. 148, 149. 

 f Report of the Chemist, Exp. Farm, 1908-09, pp. 145, 146. 



