EFFECT OF HARVEST TIME AND DRYING METHOD ON QUALITY AND GRADE OF SPRING TRITICALE

Two spring triticale (X-Triticosecale Wittmack) cultivars, Carman and Welsh, and one advanced-generation breeding line were grown under field conditions for 3 yr to study the effects of harvest time and drying method on quality and grade. Plots were harvested at six to seven intervals when kernel water concentration was in the 1000 to 100 g water per kilogram kernel dry weight range. Grain was dried in the field in simulated windrows or artificially dried in a forced-air oven at 40–45 °C. Test weight, 1000-kernel weight, falling number, germination, and commercial grade were determined. Test weight increased with decreasing kernel water concentration at harvest, particularly in the artificially dried treatment. Test weight was greater in the windrowed than in the artificially dried treatment, especially for harvests made at high water concentrations. Harvest at high kernel water concentrations tended to reduce 1000-kernel weight, more so in the windrowed than in the artificially dried treatment. Although falling numbers were influenced by harvest time and drying method, there were no clear trends. Germination was reduced in material cut at a kernel water concentration above 680 g∙kg−1 in 1 of 2 years. Grades were reduced by artificial drying of grain, particularly when harvested at high kernel water concentrations. Grades were unaffected by windrowing at kernel water concentrations of up to 1000 g∙kg−1.Key words: X-Triticosecale Wittmack, test weight, falling number, germination, windrow