Cereal Chem 47:579 - 586.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Effects of Fumigation on Wheat in Storage. I. Physical Measurements of Flour.

R. H. Matthews, C. C. Fifield, T. F. Hartsing, C. L. Storey, and N. M. Dennis. Copyright 1970 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A comprehensive study was conducted to determine effects of fumigation of wheat in storage on composition, quality, and baking performance of the wheats. Fumigations included methyl bromide; ethylene dichloride-CCl4 (3:1); and phosphine. Two control samples, one held at ambient temperatures, the other at 32 F., were also studied. This paper gives results of physical quality tests and conditions of the flours from the fumigated wheats milled at predetermined times. Methyl bromide and ethylene dichloride- CCl4 fumigations of the wheat kept the flours in the best condition, as shown by low insect-fragment counts. Inorganic bromide residue built up to 99 p.p.m. in the flour after 3 years' storage and repeated fumigations. Little accumulation of ethylene dichloride and l4 was evident in the flour during the course of the research. Phosphine residue content increased somewhat near the end of the study. Storage and treatment of the wheats caused changes in physical qualities of the flours. The amylograph showed highest viscosity in the flours from the phosphine treatment and lowest in the flours from methyl bromide and refrigerated control wheats. Farinograph readings showed the flours from the phosphine-fumigated grain to have the highest mixing tolerance at most test periods of the wheat. Near the end of the 3-year project, the methyl bromide sample showed some indication of lowered mixing tolerance. Together, storage and treatment of the wheat caused an over-all decrease in quality characteristics.