The fate of the Fusarium mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and nivalenol during the milling of Japanese wheat cultivars artificially infected with Fusarium was investigated. Grain samples with different mycotoxin concentrations were milled using a laboratory-scale test mill to produce eight fractions: three breaking flours (1B, 2B, and 3B), three reduction flours (1M, 2M, and 3M), wheat bran, and wheat shorts. Patent flour for human consumption was made from the 1B, 2B, 1M, and 2M flours, and low-grade flour was made from 3B and 3M flours. The four resulting samples (patent flour, low-grade flour, bran, and shorts) were analyzed for deoxynivalenol and/or nivalenol with an in-house validated analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV absorbance detection. In samples with different mycotoxin concentrations, the distribution of those toxins differed among the milling fractions. Grains with a lower level of contamination produced bran and shorts samples with a high relative concentration of nivalenol. A high percentage of nivalenol was found in patent flour, followed by bran. Contrary to the less-contaminated sample, the concentration of nivalenol in moderately contaminated grain was high only in the shorts sample. The highest percentage of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol was observed in the patent flour. The results of this study indicate that the distribution of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol in milled Japanese wheat could be influenced by the contamination level of the original grain, and the milling process is not always effective for removal of toxins from wheat grains.

Nitrate-N (NO3-N) leaching in intensive crop production systems is an important issue due to its potential as a pollutant and a valuable resource. This study aimed at evaluating NO3-N leaching using on-farm measurements and modeling of 12 commercial fields of leafy vegetables characterized by an array of farm management. Real-time monitoring of the soil moisture, temperature and bulk electrical conductivity using a capacitance/resistance sensor was carried out to verify the temperature index and the leaching constant integrated in the soil nitrogen balance estimation system. Results showed that measured soil temperature strongly correlated to model estimates. Values of the leaching constant were 0.0006 kg kg 1 and 0.00075 kg kg 1 (in 2013) both of which were close to the model value of 0.0007 kg kg 1. Values in 2012 were either too high (0.00127 kg kg 1) or too low (0.0010 kg kg 1). NO3-N leaching ranged from 13.50 kg ha 1 to 72.71 kg ha 1 in 2012 and 8.66 kg ha 1 to 41.10 kg ha 1 or 0.00 kg ha 1 to 41.10 with or without rye, respectively. NO3-N leaching in single cropping systems of 2012 was higher than in double cropping systems of 2013.

Fine grinding technology is expected to permit various application of rice flour, however, it will decrease flowability of rice flour, resulting in formation of bridge and cohesion of powder inside the food processing machine. To determine necessary equipments and technologies for the processing of fine rice flour, this study investigated Carr s flowability and floodability indices, moisture content, and roughness coefficient of the flours made from nonglutinous rice (white/brown) and glutinous rice (white), having the mean diameters of 3 30 m and 30 100 m milled by a jet mill and a hammer mill respectively. Although the moisture content and the roughness coefficient decreased as the mean diameter of the rice flour decreased, its flowability decreased as the mean diameter decreased down to 15 m. In the flours at 3 m mean diameter, the flowability of white rice flour was almost same with that of 15 m flour, while it increased in the brown rice flour. The rice flours with the mean diameter less than 30 m were less flowable than traditional rice flour joshinko, however as flowable as ordinary wheat flour.

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