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Optimization of a Laboratory Dehulling Process for Lentil (Lens culinaris)¹

¹Paper 896 of the Grain Research Laboratory, Canadian Grain Commission, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3C 3G8. ²Canadian Grain Commission, Grain Research Laboratory, 1404-303 Main Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3C 3G8. ³Corresponding author. Phone: 204-983-2154. Fax: 204-983-0724. E-mail: nwang@grainscanada.gc.ca

Red lentil (Lens culinaris) is mainly processed into dehulled and split forms before human consumption and characteristics such as dehulling efficiency (DE), which is the sum of percent dehulled whole seed (PDW) and percent dehulled split seed (PDS), are important to lentil breeders, processors, and exporters. A laboratory Satake dehuller was used to evaluate the dehulling characteristics of red lentil. The effects of dehulling conditions (abrasive wheel speed, dehulling time, and seed moisture content) were investigated using response surface methodology. Increasing dehulling time and seed moisture content decreased DE. Increasing seed moisture content decreased powder and broken fractions but increased the undehulled whole seed fraction. PDW was decreased but PDS was increased as dehulling time was increased. Percent hull removed during dehulling process decreased as seed moisture content was increased but increased as abrasive wheel speed or dehulling time was increased. The optimum dehulling conditions for the laboratory dehuller, based on maximizing DE and percent hull removed while minimizing powder fraction (loss), were established. Good agreement was found between experimental values for dehulling characteristics (DE, PDW, PDS, hull removed, and powder produced) obtained at optimum dehulling conditions and predicted values for those characteristics obtained using the models developed.