Quality Change in Packaged Buck Wheat during Storage

Abstract

The influences of moisture content, storage temperature and carbon dioxide on the quality change in the packaged buck wheat were determined by the germination test and the measurement of fat acidity and reducing sugar content. (1) Better quality retention of the packaged buck wheat was obtained under the condition of lower moisture content and lower storage temperature. The moisture content was defined to be lower than 13.8% in oder to keep the good quality for 10 months at 30°C. (2) Under the storage condition at 30°C, carbon dioxide did not show the protective effect for the quality change in the packaged buck wheat. (3) The major factor affecting the increase of fat acidity of buck wheat was related to the free fatty acid content. (4) The analysis of buck wheat after one year of storage at 30°C showed that the relative amount of linoleic acid in total fatty acid was higher than those in the free fatty acids, while C²⁰<-fatty acid was lower.