Comparison between devices for homogenization and reduction of soybean grain samples

Abstract

In the grain market the most diverse equipment is used for homogenization and reduction of the working samples. Thus, this paper aims to analyze the performance of devices used for sample homogenization and reduction for soybean classification. A sample composed of 8% of damaged soybeans with yellow and black coat was previously prepared. Samples were homogenized and reduced in bucket, crate, Boerner, 16:1 multichannel splitter and 4:1 multichannel splitter. The design used was completely randomized with five treatments (homogenizers) and one percentage of damaged grains (8%). Evaluations were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were compared to one another by Tukey test (p 0.5) and to the mean of the original sample (8%) by Student s t-test. The devices Boerner, 16:1 multichannel splitter and 4:1 multichannel splitter were similar in the homogenization and reduction of the soybean sample. The crate and bucket showed the worst performance in the grain homogenization because they compromise the result of the product’s qualitative analysis.