https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2025.1674
Grain kernel damage during threshing: a comprehensive review of theories and models
Published: 2 January 2025
Abstract Views: 403
PDF: 343
HTML: 30
HTML: 30
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Grain threshing is aimed at separating the grain from the inedible chaff. However, mechanical forces often damage grains, impacting their quality, market value, and germination ability. This comprehensive review examines theories and models developed to study and predict grain damage during threshing. These include contact theory, fracture mechanics models, discrete element modeling, and finite element analysis. This review delves into how these theories elucidate the influence of grain characteristics, such as moisture content and kernel size, on susceptibility to damage. It assesses how different machine parameters like threshing speed drum design and concave settings contribute to damage such as breakage, fissures, and internal cracks. We delve deeply into utilizing contact theory to estimate stress distribution when metal grains collide, employing fracture mechanics to understand crack initiation and propagation, and utilizing DEM and FEA to simulate how grains move within the thresher. By synthesizing knowledge from these modeling approaches, this review offers an understanding of the multifaceted nature of grain damage during threshing. They emphasize the significance of tuning settings and implementing suitable pre and post-threshing techniques to reduce waste and maintain top-notch grain quality for eating and seeding. This in-depth evaluation offers insights for scientists, engineers, and farming experts dedicated to enhancing the productivity and eco-friendliness of grain cultivation methods.
Alotaibi, K.D., Al-Shamrani, M.A., Al-Dossary, M.A., 2020. An investigation on the effect of threshing parameters on barley grain quality. Int. J. Agr.Biol. 2:405–412.
Bao, J., 2019. Effects of grain breakage on the cooking quality of rice. J. Cereal Sci. 8:119–124.
Baryeh, E.A., 2003. A simple grain impact damage assessment device for developing countries. J. Food Eng. 56:37–42.
Batey, I.L., 2010. Maintaining grain quality during storage and transport. In: Wrigley, C.W., Batey, I.L. (eds.), Cereal grains. Cambridge, Woodhead Publishing. pp. 413–430.
Bian, Q., Ambrose, R.P.K., Subramanyam, B., 2015. Effects of insect-infested kernels on bulk flow properties of wheat. J. Stored Prod. Res. 63:51–56.
Bishaw, Z., Niane, A.A., Gan, Y., 2007. Quality seed production. In: Yadav, S.S., McNeil, D.L., Stevenson, P.C. (eds.), Lentil. Dordrecht, Springer. pp. 349–383.
Bramerdorfer, G., Tapia, J.A., Pyrhonen, J.J., Cavagnino, A., 2018. Modern electrical machine design optimization: techniques, trends, and best practices. IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. 65:7672–7684.
Bramerdorfer, G., Zavoianu, A.-C., Silber, S., Lughofer, E., Amrhein, W., 2016. Possibilities for speeding up the FE-based optimization of electrical machines - A case study. IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl. 52:4668–4677.
Bucklin, R., Thompson, S., Montross, M., Abdel-Hadi, A., 2013. Grain storage systems design. In: Kutz, M. (ed.), Handbook of farm, dairy and food machinery engineering. Academic Press. pp. 123–175.
Callen, H.B., 1985. Thermodynamics and an introduction to Tthermostatistics. Hoboken, J. Wiley & Sons.
Chaturvedi, S., Shrivastava, A.K., Ramakrishnan, R.S., Koutu, G.K., Singh, S., 2020. Effect of moisture content on some physical properties of three varieties of Kodo (scrobiculatum L.) millet. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 9:3781–3788.
Chen, Y., 2020. Impact of microstructural characteristics on the mechanical properties of grains. Food Eng. Rev. 12:134–150.
Chen, Z., Wassgren, C., Ambrose, K., 2020. A review of grain kernel damage: mechanisms, modeling, and testing procedures. Trans. ASABE 63:455–475.
Christensen, R.M., 1982. Theory of viscoelasticity: An introduction. Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Cnossen, A.G., 2012. Effect of hulling and cracking on rice milling quality. J. Food Eng. 108:305–313.
Cole, M.B., Augustin, M.A., Robertson, M.J., Manners, J.M., 2018. The science of food security. Npj Sci. Food 2:14.
Dobrzaski, B., Stpniewski, A., 2013. Physical properties of seeds in technological processes. Sn: Grundas, S. (ed.), Advances in agrophysical research. InTech.
Eshelby, J.D., 1951. The force on an elastic singularity. Philos. T. R. Soc. S-A. 244:87–112.
Eyshi Rezaei, E., Webber, H., Gaiser, T., Naab, J., Ewert, F., 2015. Heat stress in cereals: Mechanisms and modelling. Eur. J. Agron. 64:98–113.
Fleurat-Lessard, F., 2016. Postharvest operations for quality preservation of stored grain. In: C. Wrigley, H. Corke, K. Seetharaman, J. Faubion (eds.), Encyclopedia of food grains. Academic Press, pp. 117–125.
Gan, C., Zhu, X., Xu, J., Guan, X., Xie, Y., 2021. Comparative study of threshing mechanisms on the quality of wheat and rice grains. Trans. ASABE 64:75–83.
Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti, M., Khalili, H., Aghbashlo, M., 2020. Effect of moisture content and pre-drying treatment on barley grain damage during the threshing process. Agric. Eng. Int. 22:29–36.
Greffeuille, V., Abecassis, J., Barouh, N., Villeneuve, P., Mabille, F., Bar L’Helgouac’h, C., Lullien-Pellerin, V., 2007. Analysis of the milling reduction of bread wheat farina: Physical and biochemical characterisation. J. Cereal Sci. 45:97–105.
Griffith, A.A. 1921. VI. The phenomena of rupture and flow in solids. Philos. T. R. Soc. Lond. 221:163–198.
Han, T., Petukhov, Y., Levy, A., Kalman, H. 2006. Theoretical and experimental study of multi-impact breakage of particles. Adv. Powder Technol. 17:135–157.
Han, Y., Li, G., Jia, F., Meng, X., Chu, Y., Chen, P., et al. 2021. Analysis of breakage behavior of rice under impact. Powder Technol. 394:533–546.
Jindal, V.K., Herum, F.L., Hamdy, M.Y.1979. Selected breakage characteristics of corn. Trans. ASAE 22:1193-1196.
Kaur, C., Solanki, D., Choudhary, L.R. 2019. Constraints in adoption of post harvest technologies in maize crop faced by farm families of Udaipur and Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan, India. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 8:429–432.
Keller, D.L., Converse, H.H., Hodges, T.O., Chung, D.S. 1972. Corn kernel damage due to high velocity impact. Trans. ASAE 15:0330–0332.
Khan, K., Moses, S.C., Kumar, A., Kumar, D. 2017. Design a seed metering wheel for sowing pigeon pea seeds. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 6:4291–4299.
Kroupa, P. 2003. The outer quality loss during grain post-harvest treatment and handling. Res. Agric. Eng. 49:91–102.
Kumar, D., Kalita, P. 2017. Reducing postharvest losses during storage of grain crops to strengthen food security in developing countries. Foods 6:8.
Kumar Korram, A., Jogdand, S.V., Victor, V.M., Chandravanshi, A., Mandal, S. 2018. Feasibility testing of mini rice mill operation in animal driven rotary mode system. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 7:2433–2440.
Langer, J.S. 2008. Shear-transformation-zone theory of plastic deformation near the glass transition. Phys. Rev. E 77:021502.
Lemaitre, J., Chaboche, J.-L. 1990. Mechanics of solid materials. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Li, Z., Thomas, C. 2014. Quantitative evaluation of mechanical damage to fresh fruits. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 35:138-150.
Liu, M., Shi, X. 2019. Brief introduction of engineering property for coarse grained soil. IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 267:032047.
Liu, X., Yang, J. 2003. Effects of vehicle impact velocity and front-end structure on dynamic responses of child pedestrians. Traffic Inj. Prev. 4:337–344.
Lizhang, X., Yaoming, L., Zheng, M., Zhan, Z., Chenghong, W. 2013. Theoretical analysis and finite element simulation of a rice kernel obliquely impacted by a threshing tooth. Biosyst. Eng. 114:146–156.
Looh, G.A., Xie, F., Mangeh (III), F.C., Wang, X., Wang, X. 2020. Performance assessment of a self-propelled paddy grain thresher under different threshing functional parameters. Appl. Eng. Agric. 36:141–149.
Maindarkar, S., Dubbelboer, A., Meuldijk, J., Hoogland, H., Henson, M. 2014. Prediction of emulsion drop size distributions in colloid mills. Chem. Eng. Sci. 118:114–125.
Mima, G., Oka, T. 1967. Grain-boundary sliding in high-purity aluminium (99.999%) bicrystals during the high-temperature (isothermal) shear test. Trans. Jpn. Inst. Met. 8:40–44.
Mohammadi Shad, Z., Atungulu, G.G. 2019. Post-harvest kernel discoloration and fungi activity in long-grain hybrid, pureline and medium-grain rice cultivars as influenced by storage environment and antifungal treatment. J. Stored Prod. Res. 81:91–99.
Nuttall, J.G., O’Leary, G.J., Panozzo, J.F., Walker, C.K., Barlow, K.M., Fitzgerald, G.J. 2017. Models of grain quality in wheat - A review. Field Crops Res. 202:136–145.
Oli, P., Ward, R., Adhikari, B., Torley, P. 2016. Colour change in rice during hydration: Effect of hull and bran layers. J. Food Eng. 173:49–58.
Onwe, D.N., Umani, K.C., Olosunde, W.A., Ossom, I.S. 2020. Comparative analysis of moisture-dependent physical and mechanical properties of two varieties of African star apple (Chrysophyllum albidum) seeds relevant in engineering design. Sci. Afr. 8:e00303.
Panasiewicz, M., Grochowicz, J., Sobczak, P. 2009. Influence of hydrothermal processes on selected physical properties of oat grain. J. Food Eng. 90:81–89.
Paulsen, M.R., Singh, M., Singh, V. 2019. Measurement and maintenance of corn quality. In: S.O. Serna-Saldivar (ed.), Corn (Third Edition). AACC International Press. pp. 165–211.
Polikarpova, E.P., Mizikovskiy, I.E. 2020. Objectification of losses in accounting of agricultural organizations. Proceedings of the International Conference on Policies and Economics Measures for Agricultural Development (AgroDevEco 2020). Atlantis Press. pp. 283-289.
Rao, R.V., Pawar, R.B. 2020. Constrained design optimization of selected mechanical system components using Rao algorithms. Appl. Soft Comput. 89:106141.
Rice, J.R. 1968. A path independent integral and the approximate analysis of strain concentration by notches and cracks. J. Appl. Mech. 35:379-386.
Roberts, A.W., Arnold, P.C. 1966. Grain damage due to agricultural machinery part 1 - Harvesting Machines (survey only) and auger conveyors. Wollongong University College Bulletin. Available from: https://archivesonline.uow.edu.au/nodes/view/18013#idx198509
Schmidt, M., Zannini, E., Arendt, E. 2018. Recent advances in physical post-harvest treatments for shelf-life extension of cereal crops. Foods 7:45.
Shirmohammadi, M., Charrault, E. 2018. Determining properties of almond kernel under various moisture content levels. Acta Hortic. 199-206.
Sreenivasulu, N., Butardo, V.M., Misra, G., Cuevas, R.P., Anacleto, R., Kavi Kishor, P.B. 2015. Designing climate-resilient rice with ideal grain quality suited for high-temperature stress. J. Exp. Bot. 66:1737–1748.
Srivastava, A.K. 2006. Engineering principles of agricultural machines. St. Joseph American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Tavares, L.M., Carvalho, R.M. 2007. Impact work index prediction from continuum damage model of particle fracture. Miner. Eng. 20:1368–1375.
Thamburaja, P., Sarah, K., Srinivasa, A., Reddy, J.N. 2019. Fracture of viscoelastic materials: FEM implementation of a non-local & rate form-based finite-deformation constitutive theory. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 354:871-903.
Toivonen, P.M.A., Mitcham, E.J., Terry, L.A. 2014. Postharvest care and the treatment of fruits and vegetables. In: Dixon, G.R., Aldous, D.E. (eds.), Horticulture: plants for people and places. Dordrecht, Springer. pp. 465–483.
Valenzuela, J.L. 2023. Advances in postharvest preservation and quality of fruits and vegetables. Foods 12:1830.
Vishwakarma, R.K., Shivhare, U.S., Gupta, R.K., Yadav, D.N., Jaiswal, A., Prasad, P. 2018. Status of pulse milling processes and technologies: A review. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 58:1615-1628.
Vogel, L., Peukert, W. 2003. Breakage behaviour of different materials - construction of a mastercurve for the breakage probability. Powder Technol. 129:101–110.
Voicu, G., Biris, S.-S., Stefan, E.-M., Alexandru, G., Ungureanu, N.,2013. Grinding characteristics of wheat in industrial mills. In: Muzzalupo, I. (ed.), Food industry. InTech.
Wang, L., Jeronimidis, G. 2008. Investigation of the fracture mode for hard and soft wheat endosperm using the loading–unloading bending test. J. Cereal Sci. 48:193–202.
Xie, S., Wang, C., Deng, W. 2020. Experimental study on collision acceleration and damage characteristics of potato. J. Food Process Eng. 43:e13457.
Xu, L., Li, Y., Ding L. 2008. Contacting mechanics analysis during impact process between rice and threshing component. Transactions CSAE 6:146-149.
Yasothai, R. 2020. Factors affecting grain quality: a review. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 9: 205-210.
Supporting Agencies
Department of Agricultural Mechanization Engineering of Hunan Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Agriculture Equipment of Hunan Agricultural UniversityHow to Cite
Looh, G. A. (2025) “Grain kernel damage during threshing: a comprehensive review of theories and models”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 56(1). doi: 10.4081/jae.2025.1674.
Copyright (c) 2025 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Francesca Perazzolo, Gabriele Mattachini, Fulvia Tambone, Aldo Calcante, Giorgio Provolo, Nutrient losses from cattle co-digestate slurry during storage , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 2 (2016)
- Monica C. M. Parlato, Carlos Rivera-Gómez, Simona M. C. Porto, Reuse of livestock waste for the reinforcement of rammed-earth materials: investigation on mechanical performances , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 2 (2023)
- Adeshina Fadeyibi, Zinash D. Osunde, Evans C. Egwim, Peter A. Idah, Performance evaluation of cassava starch-zinc nanocomposite film for tomatoes packaging , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 48 No. 3 (2017)
- Fan Cui, Guoqi Dong, Baiping Chen, Penglin Yong, Suping Peng, Application of ground penetrating radar technology in moisture content detection of stored grain , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 54 No. 1 (2023)
- Alina Evelyn Badillo-Márquez, Isaí Pardo-Escandón, Alberto Alfonso Aguilar-Lasserre, Constantino Gerardo Moras-Sánchez, Rita Flores-Asis, Intelligent system based on a satellite image detection algorithm and a fuzzy model for evaluating sugarcane crop quality by predicting uncertain climatic parameters , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 55 No. 4 (2024)
- Andrey Linenko, Bulat Khalilov, Timur Kamalov, Marat Tuktarov, Damir Syrtlanov, Effective technical ways to improve the vibro-centrifugal separator electric drive for grain cleaning , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 52 No. 2 (2021)
- Alessandro Parenti, Paolo Spugnoli, Piernicola Masella, Lorenzo Guerrini, Stefano Benedettelli, Stefano Di Blasi, Comparison of grape harvesting and sorting methods on factors affecting the must quality , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 46 No. 1 (2015)
- Andrea Peruzzi, Luisa Martelloni, Christian Frasconi, Marco Fontanelli, Michel Pirchio, Michele Raffaelli, Machines for non-chemical intra-row weed control in narrow and wide-row crops: a review , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 48 No. 2 (2017)
- Francesca Piazzolla, Maria Luisa Amodio, Giancarlo Colelli, Spectra evolution over on-vine holding of Italia table grapes: prediction of maturity and discrimination for harvest times using a Vis-NIR hyperspectral device , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 48 No. 2 (2017)
- Eutiquio Gallego, Manuel Moya, Esperanza Ayuga-Téllez, Ana I. García, Francisco Ayuga, The influence of management and construction methods in the repair costs of Spain’s low-volume road network , Journal of Agricultural Engineering: Vol. 47 No. 2 (2016)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
