Cereal Chem 65:233-239   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Analysis of Radiograms of Wheat Kernels for Quality Control.

T. F. Schatzki and T. A. Fine. Copyright 1988 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Daily film radiograms were obtained of hard winter wheat kernels following one day exposure to each of the four major hidden insect pests of North American wheat (Sitophilus zeamais, Sitophilus oryzae, Ryzoperthia dominica, and Sitotroga cerealella). Resulting films were viewed in transmitted light using microscopic lenses and image enhancement. When presented with the image of a single kernel for 1 sec, a trained operator could detect the presence of a hidden insect of these four species, respectively, with 80% accuracy 8, 7, 27, and 15 days after oviposition. False negatives generally decreased exponentially with insect maturity. False positives amounted to 0.08%. The implications for wheat quality control are discussed.