Cereal Chem. 70:133- 136   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Water Absorption by Cracked Mustard.

X. Zhang and G. H. Brusewitz. Copyright 1993 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The water absorption rate was determined for whole mustard seed and for seed cracked by seven cracking treatments, including two types of mills, three roller-mill gaps, two hammer-mill feed rates, three seed- cracking temperatures, and two soaking temperatures. The absorption rate was obtained by measuring the amount of water that a sample imbibed from a water source during a given period. The parameters in a logarithmic model for water absorption as a function of soaking time did not vary with the different cracking treatments. The diffusion coefficient, computed to be 1.58 x 10[-7] cm[2]/sec for whole seeds, was used in the diffusion equation to derive an equivalent average particle diameter. The equivalent particle diameter ranged from 2.02 mm for whole mustard to 0.50 mm for finely cracked samples. The water absorption rate of mustard was less for larger roller mill gaps and a higher feed rate through the hammer mill. Seed-cracking temperature had no measurable effect on the water absorption rate. Higher soaking temperature produced a higher water absorption rate.