Measurement of Weight Distribution of Rice Grains for Sake Brewing using an Automatic Apparatus

Abstract

An automatic apparatus, which enables to measure the weight of single rice grain one by one, was developed and applied to the measurement of weight distribution of polished rice. From results of weight distribution on different sample size of the same polished rice, Yamadanishiki, it was shown that the measurements of 300 grains was sufficient to estimate characteristics as raw material for sake brewing. Almost the same values of deviation were obtained in weight measurement by manual and automatic operations on the same sample size. But it was suggested that manual operations be caused a possibility of sampling error. On the other hand, automatic measurements can be made continuously even overnight operation.