The value of a seed lot
The oil content of a seed lot decides what it is worth: what is paid to the grower, how much oil a crushing plant will recover, and how well a breeding line is performing. Moisture decides whether a lot can be stored safely and how much drying it needs.
Where it is used
- Rapeseed and canola, sunflower, soybean and flax
- Cottonseed, castor and other oilseeds
- Peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and other nuts and kernels
- Oilseed meal and press cake, including their residual oil
Typical tasks are paying for a delivery by quality, sorting lots when they arrive at a crushing plant, selecting breeding lines, and checking meal and cake.
Pour in, measure, read
The seeds are poured into a sample holder as they are. Oil and water give separate signals that fade at different speeds, so one measurement gives both results. A calibration for each crop turns the signals into percentages. Larger sample volumes are available for coarse materials such as nuts.
Recognised reference methods
- ISO 10565 for oilseeds and ISO 10632 for oilseed residues
- AOCS Ak 4-95
- Grain inspection procedures used in the United States
The reference extraction method for the oil content of oilseeds is ISO 659. It is the method against which the NMR calibration is made, and it is not an NMR method itself. Which of these documents applies depends on your market and your trade partners, and should be confirmed before a method is set up.
What it adds
- No grinding, no drying oven and no solvent
- The seeds are not destroyed, so the same sample can go on to other tests
- Whole seeds of irregular shape can be measured as they are
- A short measurement time suits intake and breeding work, where many samples arrive
- Simple enough for routine staff to run
Points that matter in practice
- Make a calibration for each crop, and check whether varieties or growing regions need their own
- Seed temperature and moisture affect the reading, so keep the conditions consistent
- A result is only as good as the sample, so take representative samples from mixed lots
- Very small samples, down to a few seeds, need a dedicated set-up and must be validated separately
- Results should be compared with the reference extraction method as part of the calibration, and checked at regular intervals
From your seeds to a routine method
Send or bring representative samples. MSY Consulting runs feasibility measurements, plans the calibration for your crops, compares the results with your reference method, and trains your team until the measurement is part of your routine.
Let's talk about your application
Send an email describing your instrument and your application, and you will get a reply.
contact@msyconsulting.euMSY CONSULTING SAS · Wissembourg, France · LinkedIn