Cereal Chem 41:80 - 86.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

A Micro Method for Determining Moisture Distribution in Wheat Kernels, Based on Iodine Staining.

H. L. Seckinger, M. J. Wolf, and R. J. Dimler. Copyright 1964 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A method is described for studying moisture distribution in wheat based on comparison microscopically of the starch-iodine color of isolated portions of endosperm with that of standards. Moisture content of a few endosperm cells was estimated to one percentage point over the range 12-21%. Application of the procedure to wheat during tempering showed that an increase in moisture could be detected in the center of the kernel after 2 hr. At 24 hr., moisture was evenly distributed throughout the endosperm. Sections cut from a single kernel after a 2-hr. tempering showed a moisture gradient of 4 percentage points over a distance of 1 mm.