Cereal Chem 55:263 - 279.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Testing Wheat for Protein and Moisture with the Automated Digital Analyzer.

P. C. Williams, S. G. Stevenson, G. N. Irvine. Copyright 1978 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The automated digital analyzer (ADA) is a system developed for the automated analysis of up to 2,500 samples of cereal grain for protein and moisture on a routine daily basis. The system operates through near- infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Unlike other equipment of its type, the instrument is not hard wired to any particular wavelengths. Instead, the operator sets up wavelength areas within which the system is free to select the wavelengths that are most significant for the material being analyzed. An on-line digital computer performs the complicated computations involved in the calibration process. Samples are presented at an average rate of one every 9 sec, including time for scanning the ceramic standard. Sample presentation is achieved by conveyor chains, which are activated by a series of microswitches. To date, standard deviations of 0.27 with respect to Kjeldahl protein and 0.24 with respect to oven moisture have been achieved for hard red spring wheat under on-line high-volume conditions. The ADA is well suited to large-scale testing such as that involved in the protein segregation program of the Canadian Grain Commission and in cereal breeding programs.