INFLUENCE OF WHEAT MEAL VARIABILITY UPON COMPACTING BEHAVIOR DURING PELLETING

The influence of wheat meal variability on its compacting behaviour ha s been studied. Seventeen, samples of wheat, identified according to t heir origin and their supplier, were ground in the same conditions and characterised both by near-IR reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and a c ompression test. The NIRS technique was used to determine the chemical and particle size variability. A laboratory press was used to charact erise the compacting behaviour of the meal. The study of the relations hips between the variability and the compacting behaviour of the wheat meals has been performed by using a multivariate statistical treatmen t called canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The only chemical infor mation that was highlighted by CCA was the water content. The water im proved the meal compression by decreasing the force corresponding to t he yield point of plasticity. The water influence has been observed fr om a low variation range of the moisture content (from 11 to 12.8%). D ifference in particle size had no significant effect on the compacting behaviour.