Our Analytical Lab is comprised of predictive analytical tools that help to understand the wide range of factors that contribute to wheat and flour quality. Here, Wheat Marketing Center lab technicians use state-of-the-art equipment to test grain, flour and dough quality. The results help us predict how wheat will perform when milled and made into a variety of food products and other applications.
The Analytical Lab provides the foundation for all WMC programs and activities, including:
Annual Crop Quality Survey
Every year hundreds of samples are collected and submitted to be analyzed in real-time to inform growers and customers about the current crop. This analytical process helps U.S. farmers understand current crop quality so they can make necessary adjustments, and it helps provide the market with critical data needed for purchasing decisions.
Technical Training Courses
Grain and flour samples are tested by educational course participants to use in making and evaluating end products.
Research Projects
Technology is used to identify a number of data points that enhance WMC’s ability to perform innovative research and development projects.
Proprietary Lab Services
Proprietary testing and analysis of wheat is offered to producers, millers, breeders, trading companies, and bakers to help them understand how quality impacts their products and profits.
The Analytical Lab contains a variety of equipment, most notably of which is:
GRAIN
- Single Kernal Characterization System
- Sedimentation
- SKCS
- Protein
- Moisture
- Ash
- Wholemeal Wet Gluten
- Falling Number
FLOUR
- Starch Damage
- Amylograph
- Wet Gluten
- Bran Scan
- Ash
- Moisture
- Protein
- Falling Number
- Color
- Rapid Visco Analyzer
- Solvent Retention (SRC)
DOUGH
- Extensograph
- Farinograph
- Mixlab
- Alveograph
- Mixograph